How much does surrogacy cost in Canada?

Canada is generally an affordable place but when it comes to surrogacy, people want to know how much does surrogacy cost in Canada. Surrogacy is an arrangement, often legally backed, where a woman agrees to become pregnant and deliver a baby for another person or couple who will become the child’s parents. Surrogacy is a very important family-building option for couples who cannot successfully carry a pregnancy.

What are the types of surrogacy?

There are two main types of surrogacy, they include:

• Gestational surrogacy – this is the type of surrogacy where a woman agrees to be implanted with a fertilized egg, she then carries the pregnancy to term and hands the child over to the intended parents. The fertilized egg may be gotten from the intended mother or from an egg donor; the fertilized sperm may be gotten from the intended father or a sperm donor. After the collection, the egg is fertilized in vitro, the embryo is then implanted into the gestational carrier for her to carry it to term. This way, the gestational carrier has no genetic connection to the baby.
• Traditional surrogacy – in this type of surrogacy, the woman that agrees to be a surrogate uses her eggs to become pregnant. The fertilizing sperm is gotten from the intended father or a sperm donor. In this method, fertilization is usually done through intrauterine insemination. However, in cases where the intended parents may want to carry out some genetic testing, In Vitro fertilization may be used, where the embryo is genetically tested prior to the transfer. The main difference between this type of surrogacy and gestational surrogacy is that the embryo has a genetic relationship with the surrogate mother.

Who are the people that surrogacy is meant for?

Surrogacy is desirable or applicable in situations where there is a clear and definitive condition that prevents an intending couple from getting pregnant or carrying a pregnancy to term. It can also be applicable in cases where same-sex couples or single individuals desire children of their own. Some of the conditions that may require surrogacy include:

• Biological inability to carry a child
• Patients with a history of multiple failures with IVF cycles.
• Absence of a uterus
• Significant anomalies with the uterus or the testes
• Major medical conditions that may threaten either the mother or the fetus in pregnancy.

How does one find a surrogate?

Fertility clinics or agencies are the most common way that people locate gestational surrogates. The agencies usually have multiple departments that are responsible for different aspects of the surrogacy journey. For a fee, they are usually responsible for the legal, medical, psychological, and physiological aspects of the surrogacy process for both the surrogate mother and the intended parents. Most agencies find the appropriate surrogate for the intended couples, and one of their main criteria is that the potential gestational carrier already has at least an uncomplicated pregnancy and delivery. The potential gestational carrier must also be healthy medically and emotionally.

What to consider before deciding on surrogacy?

Surrogacy is a very complicated process; it involves a lot of legal, ethical, and financial considerations, the majority of which falls on the intended parents. Usually, the medical fees of the entire surrogacy process including that of the surrogate mother fall on the intended parents, plus any miscellaneous financial costs. The costs can start from eighty and climb to about a hundred and fifty thousand dollars or even more. The legal part of it is also quite crucial, legal contracts are required even before the process is begun; this is to protect the rights and also state the responsibilities of the intended parents, gestational carriers, and the child.

Surrogacy in Canada

In Canada, it is illegal to pay for the services of a surrogate or to buy human eggs or sperm; however, federal law permits only altruistic surrogacy. This means that it is illegal to pay a surrogate mother for her services, but they can be reimbursed for any expenses incurred in the process of surrogacy. Agencies that match surrogates with parents are also restricted, and commercial services that support either the parents or the surrogates are prohibited.

What is the cost of surrogacy in Canada?

The exact cost of surrogacy in Canada is complicated and may be difficult to pin down. The reasons for this are:

• It is illegal to pay a surrogate mother or benefit from a surrogacy process
• IVF is not a straightforward process and is not a perfect science.

Accordingly, each situation differs for the intended parents, and they should be ready to reimburse the surrogate in the appropriate circumstance of the surrogacy process, for example; if the surrogate does not have a free pregnancy and is confined to bed rest, the expenses incurred will be more than when the pregnancy is uncomplicated. Also, the miscellaneous costs like the transportation costs of the surrogate among other things lie squarely on the intended parents. Also in some cases, the surrogate undergoes a lot of transfers; this also has an impact on the cost of the surrogacy process. The total cost of the surrogacy may be around 85,000 USD in the instance that everything goes well and the surrogate gets pregnant from the first pregnancy.