Ever wondered what buying your dream home and starting a surrogacy journey have in common? Surprisingly, it's not the start of a joke. There are more parallels between the two than you might think. Similarly to house hunting, understanding the financial aspects of a surrogacy journey is key. So, let’s dive deep into the expectations vs. reality of the financial aspects of your journey to parenthood.
Ever wondered what buying your dream home and starting a surrogacy journey have in common? Surprisingly, it's not the start of a joke. There are more parallels between the two than you might think. Similarly to house hunting, understanding the financial aspects of a surrogacy journey is key. So, let’s dive deep into the expectations vs. reality of the financial aspects of your journey to parenthood.
Welcome to Surrogacy. Talk with me, your fabulous host and family building expert, Frank Golden. I'll be talking about surrogacy, IVF and making babies. Hi everyone! Frank Golden here, from Golden Surrogacy. And this is Surrogacy Talk. Before I get started, I would like to kindly ask that you please like and subscribe to Surrogacy Talk on YouTube and anywhere else that you consume your content. Also, don't forget to check out our fantastic blog at goldensurrogacy.com. Thank you so much for tuning in and for considering Golden Surrogacy your trusted source for surrogacy information. Hi, friends. Thank you for joining me. On this Surrogacy Talk I am going to dive into how much money is needed for my surrogacy journey. You might be thinking in another Surrogacy Talk, maybe I've already gone over the cost categories and what a journey costs, but there's a difference. I always say during my consultations it's important to understand that there is a difference between what your journey will actually cost at the end of the day versus how much money you will need to start your journey. Let me dive in and explain. As you may know, or maybe you don't know, the surrogacy journey cost categories typically consist of your surrogacy agency fee of around, let's say around $30,000 is the average your Surrogate compensation package. As I've said in the past, it's usually around $50,000 and an additional $20,000 in benefits. So let's call that $70,000. Your legal expenses an average of $10,000. Clinical, so this is your IVF fees, around $15,000. In this scenario, we're just going to assume that you already have embryos and then insurance for a newborn, which let's go on the low end and let's say $7,000. So that would give us a total of $132,000. For the sake of this segment, we'll just round that to $130,000 to be simple. So you may spend $130,000, let's say that's what your journey is going to cost. However, there are escrow requirements and most surrogacy agencies, Golden included, will require that you fully fund your escrow account prior to your Surrogate beginning medications. This is usually her base compensation, plus an additional $50,000. I say $50,000 because base compensation is averaging around $50,000 and usually it's base plus that base again. So I know here at Golden it is an additional $50,000. This would put what you need to be at around $180,000. Again, may only spend $130,000, but to start your journey, you would actually need $180,000 and that is why. You may be asking what is the additional$50,000 for in my escrow? The additional escrow funds would be used to cover things like your incidentals, your rare circumstances, or your Surrogate gets lost wages a c section will be one of those incidentals or rare circumstances. Or perhaps there's an unknown amount of lost wages or bed rest, things that we haven't accounted for because they haven't happened yet. However, it is important for you to begin your surrogacy journey with all of those funds safely and secured in your escrow account for your peace of mind and your Surrogates peace of mind. Not to mention it's usually a legal requirement. So a few key takeaways here. Always ask your agency what the escrow requirements are. Is it one lump sum or can it be broken down into milestone payments? This will also inform how your gestational surrogacy agreement or a.k.a. your contract is crafted. So I sure hope after this Surrogacy Talk that you have a more of an understanding of what your additional financial requirements would be to start your surrogacy journey off with the right financial budget for you. Thank you so much for tuning in. If you think of any questions or you have any comments, perhaps future content ideas, please do get in touch. I would love to hear from you. I can be contacted at our Instagram handle, which is @Golden_Surrogacy, and once again, I am Frank Golden reminding all of you that Everyone Deserves a Family.