Surrogacy continues to be a modern solution for those couples who are experiencing significant challenges in their dream of starting a family. Whether it is because of age or specific medical conditions, some people find it either medically risky or even impossible to conceive and give birth to a child naturally.
Surrogacy, however, opens up a new path. Through this solution, another woman medically evaluated as suitable agrees to become pregnant on behalf of a couple. Upon the birth of the baby, the newborn is then united with the hopeful parents, and life as a new family can begin.
One thing that hopeful families must keep in mind when going this route is that a significant financial commitment is involved. In the United States, this is further complicated by both rising costs and the potential legal complications depending on the state of residence. This is one reason why going abroad to European nations like Georgia has become increasingly popular. However, choosing this alternative also means taking into account the surrogacy cost in Georgia. These are some of the factors that need to be considered when budgeting.
Travel & Accommodations
First and foremost, the most obvious expense will be that of travel. Hopeful families can expect to conduct, at the absolute minimum, two trips to the destination country. The first will be to meet with and solidify the contractual and social relationship with a chosen surrogate mother. The final trip will, of course, be to arrive when the baby is due, receive the new family member, and return to the intended country of residence.
This means that starting budgets should plan for, at minimum, two trips, including transportation to and from Georgia, as well as accommodations while there. However, more than two trips are strongly encouraged. This is a team effort, and while emails, telephone calls, and video conferencing are widely available and easy means of communication, visiting a surrogate mother and being with her as she undertakes this task is a strong way to show support.
Compensation
Another major financial factor to keep in mind is the compensation for the surrogate mother herself. Two types of surrogacy exist, “altruistic,” where a surrogate mother volunteers to become pregnant as a favor to a couple, and “compensated.” In compensated surrogacy, the surrogate mother receives significant financial remuneration for her role, which is why couples who invest in a compensated surrogacy often have access to both a wider and faster choice of available candidates, as opposed to the altruistic route, which often requires a lot of searching and waiting to find a volunteer.
If you don’t want to wait months—or even years—for an altruistic surrogate mother candidate to appear, opting for a compensated surrogacy, especially in other countries like Georgia, is often a faster, more convenient alternative but at an added cost for the budget.
Traditional Or Gestational Surrogacy
Another significant factor for the budget is the medical category of surrogacy chosen. Surrogacy in Georgia offers two choices. Traditional surrogacy is the lower-cost choice, using the sperm of a donor artificially inseminated to use the egg of the surrogate mother herself. This is a simple, low-cost procedure.
However, a very popular but more costly alternative is gestational surrogacy, using a technique called In Vitro Fertilization or IVF. IVF takes both donated sperm and egg, usually from the hopeful parents themselves, and fertilizes them in the lab before implanting them in the surrogate mother. The result is a “true” genetic descendant of both parents, exactly as if the baby had been naturally conceived. There are additional costs that may be incurred here, such as preimplantation genetic diagnosis if there’s a need to screen and avoid congenital conditions such as cystic fibrosis, as well as additional retrieval costs if sperm or egg samples had previously been stored cryogenically for later use.
Legal Costs
A final consideration for the budget is the potential legal fees. A newborn is not automatically granted citizenship in the chosen country of residence. Depending on the country, various legal protocols may need to be fulfilled in advance before the newborn can be safely admitted into the country of residence to start a new family life.
A surrogacy agency in Georgia can often bundle all these considerations into one financial package if you are careful about finding an experienced, reliable group to work with.