Becoming a gestational surrogate provides an incredibly generous gift to your intended parents.
In addition to the immense joy our surrogates experience during their journeys, GSHC Surrogacy Agency also helps to make sure your efforts are generously compensated from start to finish.
Once you’ve decided to become a surrogate, your dedicated intake manager will go over all of this information in your contract to make sure you have a full understanding of the payment structure before moving forward with your surrogacy.
In this article, we’re breaking down everything you need to know about how surrogates are paid at GSHC Surrogacy Agency, what outside factors can affect compensation, and the additional benefits we offer. Though each surrogacy contract is unique, most of our surrogates will receive the benefits listed below during their surrogacy with us.
Suggested Base Compensation
For first-time surrogates, the average surrogate pay is $40,000 in California, while experienced surrogates can earn up to $65,000 in base compensation. This surrogate payment is sent in 10 equal monthly installments to the surrogate after pregnancy is confirmed by ultrasound.
However, there are a few things that can affect the rate of base pay, so the above rates are just suggestions and are flexible depending on your specific location, needs, and the following factors.
Outside Factors that Can Cause Fluctuations in Base Pay
Every surrogacy journey is unique and compensation may vary depending on many additional factors, like the state where you live, the type of delivery, BMI, medical history, insurance, and previous experience.
For example, surrogates are in high demand in certain states, so they may be offered a higher base compensation. Or, if the pregnancy is considered high risk—as in the case of high BMI numbers—the base pay can be slightly lower.
What Expenses are Paid in Addition to Base Compensation?
A monthly allowance is also provided to cover extra expenses a surrogate might have during her pregnancy that do not need to be itemized. This covers things like mileage less than 55 miles, prenatal vitamins, phone calls, daytime childcare, over-the-counter medications, home pregnancy tests, and other miscellaneous expenses.
We also offer a few extra benefits that are not included in the monthly allowance—like a maternity clothing allowance, an embryo transfer fee, hormonal medication fees, and a confirmation of pregnancy by fetal heartbeat fee. A multiple living expense reimbursement is also paid out in monthly installments to our surrogates who carry twins or more than one baby.
Itemized Reimbursements
In addition to the above, we provide itemized reimbursements on specific occasions for lost wages, your partner’s lost wages during your transfer and labor, meal reimbursement, mileage and travel expenses, bed rest compensation, overnight childcare, and housekeeping.
For a more detailed breakdown, make sure to check out our article on Understanding Money-Related Terms.
Unique Circumstances Paid per Occurrence:
It’s common for any pregnancy to have unexpected things happen. In the event of one or more of these occurrences, we do provide additional compensation. The list includes drop cycle fees, C-Section fees, D&C, selective reduction, termination of pregnancy, complete or partial hysterectomy, ectopic pregnancy, and other unplanned circumstances.
When to Expect Payments
All payments are submitted on the 1st or the 15th of the month depending on when medications were taken or when procedures happen. We want to make sure everything goes smoothly and that our surrogates are paid on time, so make sure to provide receipts for everything to ensure reimbursement.
Total Compensation & Benefits
Overall, total compensation for a surrogate usually ranges anywhere from $45,000 to $80,000 depending on your unique situation and experience and opens our surrogates up to more possibilities for enriching their lives.
Are you ready to begin your surrogacy journey? Complete our Surrogate Intake Form to get started.