How much does surrogacy cost?
Gestational surrogacy is the most expensive way to build a family through IVF, and most of the price is not medical. Here is what 10 US agencies publish as their own prices, side by side with what each price covers, and where the money goes.
- Updated monthly · checked 19 h ago
Surrogacy through a US agency typically costs $150,000–$200,000: 8 of the 10 agencies we checked publish a price in that range, and the full span of their prices is $145,000 to $267,000+. Most of those prices leave out IVF, which adds roughly $14,900–$59,900 with your own eggs. The largest single cost is the gestational carrier's pay: $45,000–$80,000 in base compensation for a first journey.
What 10 surrogacy agencies charge, side by side
Each agency's own published price for its standard program, read on its website on 2026-09-27, lowest first. The prices frame different things, so read what each covers before comparing.
Physician's Surrogacy
Surrogacy Flat Rate$145,000fixed program priceIVF not includedCarrier compensation, escrow management, legal contracts, IVF coordination and prenatal testing. The carrier's IVF is not included at this tier.
Also published: $213,000 with the carrier's IVF included (Livebirth Guarantee); $260,000 with donor eggs and IVF (All Inclusive Bundle).
- Carrier base pay
- $60,000 to $75,000+, by state
Egg Donor & Surrogate Solutions
Estimated total, without an egg donor$150,000–$200,000+published rangeIVF not statedAgency, legal, escrow, psychological evaluations, the carrier's compensation and fees, insurance and contingencies. The page lists IVF clinic fees separately without saying whether the total includes them.
- Agency fee
- $45,000
- Carrier base pay
- $55,000 to $65,000+
The Center for Surrogacy & Egg Donation
Typical total$150,000–$200,000published rangeIVF includedIVF clinic and medical costs, agency, legal, insurance premiums and deductibles, escrow, and the carrier's compensation and fees.
- Agency fee
- $36,000 matching fee
- Carrier base pay
- $68,000
Worldwide Surrogacy Specialists
Average cost for intended parents$165,000–$185,000published rangeIVF not includedAgency fee, carrier compensation, legal, insurance premiums and deductibles, the carrier's travel and lost wages, and contingencies such as twins. Excludes fertility clinic costs.
- Carrier base pay
- $55,000 to $85,000 on average, by experience and location
Hatch
Fixed Fee Surrogacy Only$180,000fixed program priceIVF not includedCarrier compensation and allowances, coordination, travel, lost wages, legal for everyone, life and health insurance including out-of-pocket costs, and C-section costs. No IVF, medications or egg donor.
Also published: $197,000 with one retrieval of your own eggs and unlimited transfers; $224,000 or $239,000 with donor eggs.
- Carrier base pay
- $50,000 ($55,000 in California)
Family Source Consultants
Fixed Journey Program$188,000fixed program priceIVF not statedAgency management from matching to after the birth, the carrier's maternity and life insurance, legal coordination, escrow fees, her compensation and expenses, and rematching if medically necessary, with a $100,000 refund plan. The page does not mention IVF.
Circle Surrogacy
Journey Protection Program$189,500fixed program priceIVF not includedAgency fees, carrier base compensation and pregnancy expenses, legal for both sides, insurance, escrow and screening, with a $100,000 refund guarantee. Excludes IVF and an egg donor.
Also published: Its cost sheet (January 2026) adds $14,900 to $59,900 for IVF.
- Agency fee
- $41,500
- Carrier base pay
- $48,000 in the program price (carrier pay starts at $45,000)
Northwest Surrogacy Center
Guarantee Program$190,950fixed program priceIVF not includedAgency, screening, guarantee and match fees, the carrier's medical costs and insurance, her compensation and expenses, escrow and U.S. legal fees. Excludes fertility clinic and newborn medical costs.
- Agency fee
- $38,500
- Carrier base pay
- $51,000
ConceiveAbilities
All-In Program$197,500fixed program priceIVF not includedMatching and screening, legal for both sides, the carrier's medical and life coverage, journey management, travel, and a $48,000 compensation budget (pay above it is extra). Excludes all fertility clinic services.
- Carrier base pay
- $48,000 budget
Growing Generations
Legacy program (its standard tier)$213,000–$267,000+published rangeEmbryo creation extraAgency fees, carrier compensation and expenses, medical and IVF care, legal and escrow, insurance and travel. Creating the embryos is extra: $26,000 to $35,000 with your own eggs, $50,000 to $80,000 with donor eggs.
Also published: Higher-service tiers run from $253,000 to $517,000+.
- Carrier base pay
- $75,000 minimum
Compared like for like, the 6 prices that leave IVF out run from $145,000 to $197,500. These are each agency's published figures, not quotes: the carrier's state and experience, twins, and whether her own health plan covers a surrogate pregnancy all move the final number, and prices change, so confirm the current figure and what it includes with the agency.
Where the money goes
The lines agencies' fee schedules itemize, with the range they publish for each.
- Carrier base compensation (first journey)$45,000–$80,000
Paid to the gestational carrier, usually in monthly installments once a pregnancy is confirmed. The low end is Circle Surrogacy's starting base, the high end the top of Extraordinary Conceptions' published range. Source: Circle Surrogacy, Extraordinary Conceptions.
- Agency fee$30,000–$45,000
Matching, coordination and case management for the whole journey. Some agencies charge separate matching, screening or guarantee fees on top: Northwest Surrogacy Center's program adds $28,000 of them. Source: Forward Fertility, Egg Donor & Surrogate Solutions.
- Carrier health insurance and medical bills$15,000–$37,500
A health policy that covers a surrogate pregnancy, plus deductibles and bills it does not cover; lower when the carrier's own plan covers the pregnancy. The specialist insurance brokers we checked do not publish premiums (they quote after reviewing her coverage), so this range is agencies' own budget for it. Source: Egg Donor & Surrogate Solutions, Northwest Surrogacy Center.
- IVF to create and transfer embryos (your own eggs)$14,900–$59,900
Paid to the fertility clinic rather than the agency, and left out of most agency prices. Source: Circle Surrogacy.
- Legal fees$5,500–$15,000
Your attorney drafts and negotiates the carrier agreement and obtains the court order that names you as the parents, and you also pay for the carrier's own attorney. The range is a surrogacy law firm's; agencies budget $9,000 to $14,000 (Egg Donor & Surrogate Solutions) or $15,000 (The Center for Surrogacy & Egg Donation) for both sides. Source: Klein Fertility Law, Egg Donor & Surrogate Solutions, The Center for Surrogacy & Egg Donation.
- Carrier screening$3,500–$8,000
Medical records review, background checks and psychological evaluations, often inside the agency fee. Priced on its own it runs from an independent $3,500 screening package to Northwest Surrogacy Center's $8,000 screening fee; the clinic's medical screening of the carrier is billed separately. Source: Surrogate Screening Solutions, Northwest Surrogacy Center.
- Escrow account management$1,750–$2,250
A third-party trust account that holds your funds and pays the carrier. Escrow companies publish flat fees: $1,750 (Clarity Trust) or $2,000 (SeedTrust) with an agency, $2,000 or $2,250 for an independent journey. Source: Clarity Trust, SeedTrust Escrow.
What the gestational carrier is paid
Base compensation for a first journey runs $45,000 to $80,000 across the agencies above. The base is only part of what she receives.
California pays the most: West Coast Surrogacy starts a first-time carrier at $75,000 there against $70,000 in other states, and the Egg Donor & Surrogacy Institute at $70,000 against $60,000. West Coast Surrogacy, Egg Donor & Surrogacy Institute.
Experience pays too: American Surrogacy publishes a base of $70,000 to $90,000+ for experienced carriers against $55,000 to $65,000+ for a first journey, and Extraordinary Conceptions pays repeat carriers up to $120,000. American Surrogacy, Extraordinary Conceptions.
The base is only part of the package. With a monthly allowance, milestone payments, lost wages and benefits, Circle Surrogacy estimates a first-time carrier's total at $50,000 to $75,000+, and American Surrogacy puts typical total compensation at $70,000 to $110,000+. Circle Surrogacy, American Surrogacy.
Headline pay is not always like for like: Growing Generations counts up to $5,000 of pre-pregnancy milestone payments inside its $75,000 minimum, and ConceiveAbilities' "up to $75,000" includes a limited-time $10,000 bonus. Growing Generations, ConceiveAbilities.
- Monthly allowance
- $300 to $400 a month
- Maternity clothing
- $750 to $1,250
- Each embryo transfer
- $750 to $2,000
- C-section
- $1,500 to $5,000
- Twins
- $4,000 to $15,000 more
- Lost wages
- Her actual lost pay
The IVF part: creating and transferring the embryos
Paid to the fertility clinic, and left out of most agency prices.
Circle Surrogacy's January 2026 cost sheet estimate for the IVF that creates and transfers the embryos, paid to the clinic. Growing Generations puts creating embryos with your own eggs at $26,000 to $35,000. Source: Circle Surrogacy. One modern IVF cycle is about $25,000–$32,000 all in on our IVF cost breakdown; the wider range allows for more than one egg retrieval.
Growing Generations' estimate for creating embryos with donor eggs. Circle Surrogacy puts an egg donor alone at $30,000 to $60,000 before IVF fees. Source: Growing Generations. A frozen donor-egg cohort alone is about $12,000–$20,000: see donor egg IVF.
Can you do surrogacy without an agency?
Yes, usually with a carrier you already know: an independent journey. It saves the agency's matching fee and little else.
Agencies that coordinate a carrier you found yourself charge less than a full program: Forward Fertility's self-match fee is $15,000 against its $30,000 standard fee, and Simple Surrogacy takes $10,000 off its $40,000 fee. Forward Fertility, Simple Surrogacy.
With no agency at all you buy the support separately: Surrogate Screening Solutions charges $3,500 to screen a carrier and $7,500 to $17,500 for case management. Surrogate Screening Solutions.
Escrow costs slightly more without an agency: $2,000 at Clarity Trust and $2,250 at SeedTrust. Clarity Trust, SeedTrust Escrow.
The carrier's compensation, her insurance, both attorneys, escrow and the IVF cost about the same with or without an agency, and finding, screening and coordinating the carrier becomes your job.
Does health insurance pay for any of it?
Your IVF coverage may pay for your own treatment. The carrier's pay and her pregnancy are a different matter.
State IVF mandates stop at your own treatment. Delaware's law covers IVF with a transfer to a gestational carrier but not payments to her, the District of Columbia's covers the transfer but none of her medical costs after it, and New York's insurance regulator says your plan does not cover her maternity care. Delaware Code, 18 Del. C. 3342, D.C. Code 31-3834.06, New York DFS.
California's SB 729 (plans renewing from January 2026) goes furthest: her testing and imaging and the embryo transfers are covered, but not her compensation, legal and agency fees, or the pregnancy, in RESOLVE's reading of the state's rules. RESOLVE.
Her own health plan may exclude a surrogate pregnancy or claim its costs back from her compensation, which is why intended parents often buy a surrogacy-specific policy (RESOLVE puts one at about $30,000). New York and Nevada bar those exclusions for the plans they regulate. RESOLVE, New York DFS, Nevada DPBH.
Which states require IVF coverage, and how to check whether your employer's plan has to follow them, is on our insurance coverage page.
Taxes, grants and financing
Taxes. The carrier's costs are not a deductible medical expense. IRS Publication 502 says:
You can't include in medical expenses the amounts you pay for the identification, retention, compensation, and medical care of a gestational surrogate because they are paid for an unrelated party who is not you, your spouse, or your dependent.
IRS letter rulings in 2025 applied it even where the intended mother could not safely carry a pregnancy. IRS letter ruling 202505002 (2025). IVF procedures performed on your own body, such as your egg retrieval, can still count as your medical expense. IRS Publication 502. Ask a tax professional about your own situation.
Grants. 3 of the fertility grants we track list surrogacy or a gestational carrier among the costs they cover:
- Baby Quest Foundation: award amount not published.
- Tinina Q. Cade Foundation Family Building Grant: Up to $10,000 per funded family.
- Gift of Parenthood: Up to $20,000.
Lenders, refund programs and what each grant requires are on our guide to paying for IVF.
Where paid surrogacy is restricted
Most other states permit compensated gestational surrogacy by statute or case law, some only with conditions such as marriage, residency or where the court case is filed. ASRM, Creative Family Connections.
- LouisianaProhibited
Compensated gestational surrogacy is banned: only a married couple using their own eggs and sperm may use a carrier, she may be reimbursed only for actual expenses, and arranging a paid contract is a crime. Louisiana R.S. 9:2720 (gestational carrier contracts).
- NebraskaUnenforceable
A compensated surrogacy contract is void and unenforceable by statute, though not a crime. Nebraska Rev. Stat. 25-21,200.
- IndianaUnenforceable
Every surrogacy agreement is void by statute, paid or not, although surrogacy is still practiced there. Indiana Code 31-20-1-2.
- ArizonaUnenforceable
The statute bars surrogacy contracts, but surrogacy continues and courts issue parentage orders. Arizona Rev. Stat. 25-218.
- VirginiaExpenses only
Surrogacy is permitted, but any payment beyond reasonable medical and ancillary costs is void. Code of Virginia 20-162.
- TennesseeUnsettled
No statute either way; the state Supreme Court held in 2014, in a traditional-surrogacy case, that surrogacy pay is enforceable only as reasonable costs. Tennessee Supreme Court, In re Baby (2014).
- MichiganLegal since 2025
Paid surrogacy agreements became legal on April 2, 2025, when the state repealed its 1988 ban. Michigan Assisted Reproduction and Surrogacy Parentage Act (2024 PA 24).
The law also moves the budget: 29.1% of US residents' gestational carrier cycles in 2010 to 2014 took place outside the intended parents' home state, which adds travel to many journeys. Source: CDC study, Perkins et al. 2018.
Which fertility clinics work with gestational carriers?
In 2022, 9,734 US embryo transfers, 4.7% of all, used a gestational carrier, rising to 9.6% for intended parents over 40 (CDC).
413 of the 457 US fertility clinics that report to the CDC say they run a gestational carrier program, so the clinic is rarely what limits you; the agency, the carrier and the law are. A clinic program does not mean every surrogacy arrangement is legal in that state. Clinics with a program, by state:
Common questions about surrogacy cost
How much does surrogacy cost in the US?
Gestational surrogacy through a US agency typically costs about $150,000 to $200,000: 8 of the 10 agencies we checked publish a price in that range, and their published prices span $145,000 to $267,000+. Most of those prices leave out IVF, which adds about $14,900 to $59,900 with your own eggs by one agency's cost sheet.
Does the price of surrogacy include IVF?
Usually not. 6 of the 10 agency prices we compared leave IVF out, and they range from $145,000 to $197,500 before it. Creating and transferring the embryos is paid to the fertility clinic: about $14,900 to $59,900 with your own eggs by one agency's cost sheet, and about $50,000 to $80,000 with donor eggs by another's.
How much does a gestational carrier get paid?
First-time carriers' base compensation runs about $45,000 to $80,000 in agencies' published figures, more in California and more for experienced carriers. A monthly allowance, lost wages, travel and per-event fees (a C-section, twins) are paid on top of the base.
Does health insurance cover surrogacy?
Mostly not. State IVF mandates stop at your own treatment. Delaware's law covers IVF with a transfer to a gestational carrier but not payments to her, the District of Columbia's covers the transfer but none of her medical costs after it, and New York's insurance regulator says your plan does not cover her maternity care. Her own health plan may exclude a surrogate pregnancy or claim its costs back from her compensation, which is why intended parents often buy a surrogacy-specific policy (RESOLVE puts one at about $30,000). New York and Nevada bar those exclusions for the plans they regulate.
Is compensated surrogacy legal in every state?
No. By statute or case law it is prohibited in Louisiana; unenforceable in Nebraska, Indiana and Arizona; limited to expenses in Virginia; unsettled in Tennessee. In Michigan, paid surrogacy agreements became legal on April 2, 2025, when the state repealed its 1988 ban. Most other states permit compensated gestational surrogacy by statute or case law, some only with conditions such as marriage, residency or where the court case is filed.
Can you deduct surrogacy costs on your taxes?
No. IRS Publication 502: "You can't include in medical expenses the amounts you pay for the identification, retention, compensation, and medical care of a gestational surrogate because they are paid for an unrelated party who is not you, your spouse, or your dependent." IVF procedures performed on your own body, such as your egg retrieval, can still count as your medical expense.
Is surrogacy cheaper without an agency?
Somewhat. An independent journey, usually with a carrier you already know, removes the agency's matching fee, but the carrier's compensation, her insurance, both attorneys, escrow and the IVF cost about the same with or without an agency, and finding, screening and coordinating the carrier becomes your job. Agencies that coordinate a carrier you found yourself charge less than a full program: Forward Fertility's self-match fee is $15,000 against its $30,000 standard fee, and Simple Surrogacy takes $10,000 off its $40,000 fee.
Why is surrogacy so expensive?
Because most of the cost is not medical. In agencies' own fee schedules the carrier's base pay ($45,000 to $80,000), the agency fee, a health policy that covers a surrogate pregnancy, and attorneys for both sides add up before any IVF, which is billed separately by the fertility clinic.
Are there grants that help pay for surrogacy?
A few. Of the fertility grants we track, 3 list surrogacy or a gestational carrier among the costs they cover: Baby Quest Foundation, Tinina Q. Cade Foundation Family Building Grant, Gift of Parenthood. Awards are competitive and far smaller than the total cost, so they offset part of it at most.