How to Finance Surrogacy: 4 Ways to Find Financial Help for Your Journey

Last Updated: June 11, 2026

QUICK ANSWER: Surrogacy in the United States typically costs between $100,000 and $180,000 or more, including agency fees, IVF, surrogate compensation, and legal costs. Intended parents may finance this through a combination of employer fertility benefits (increasingly common at large companies), grants from organizations such as Men Having Babies and the Forming Families Foundation, fertility-specific loans from lenders such as Sunfish and SoFi, and crowdfunding. Most families use more than one approach.

The financial reality of surrogacy is one of the first things intended parents encounter, and one of the most important to plan for clearly. This guide breaks down the four main ways to access financial help, what each one realistically offers, and specific resources to start with.

What Does Surrogacy Actually Cost?

Before exploring financing options, it helps to know what you’re planning for.

Total costs for gestational surrogacy in the United States typically range from $100,000 to $180,000, and can be higher when egg donation is also required. The main cost categories are agency fees, surrogate compensation and expense reimbursement, IVF clinic fees (including embryo creation, the transfer procedure, and monitoring), legal fees for both the gestational surrogacy agreement and the pre-birth order, and insurance costs for the surrogate’s pregnancy coverage.

These costs are incurred throughout the 15–18-month process, but intended parents should plan for the full amount before beginning. Elevate Baby provides a detailed cost breakdown during the initial consultation.

1. Explore Employer Benefits and Health Insurance

This is often the first and most overlooked place to look.

Employer-sponsored fertility benefits have expanded significantly in recent years, particularly among mid- to large-sized companies and in sectors such as technology, finance, healthcare, and law. Some employers offer dedicated fertility benefit allowances that can be applied toward IVF, egg freezing, or assisted reproduction more broadly.

Two platforms commonly used by employers to administer these benefits are Carrot (get.carrothq.com) and Progyny (progyny.com). If your employer partners with either of these, log in to understand what’s covered.

Beyond fertility-specific benefits, review your health insurance policy carefully. Some plans cover specific components of surrogacy-related medical costs, like diagnostic testing, monitoring appointments, or the IVF cycle itself for the intended parent. Coverage for surrogate-related medical costs is handled separately and is typically arranged through the surrogacy process.

What to do: Contact your HR benefits team directly and ask explicitly whether fertility treatments and assisted reproduction are covered, and whether surrogacy-related costs qualify. Don’t assume. Unfortunately, benefits documentation is often not clear on this point.

2. Apply for Grants from Specialized Organizations

Several nonprofit and advocacy organizations offer grants specifically for intended parents pursuing assisted reproduction. These awards typically range from a few thousand dollars to grants that cover a meaningful portion of treatment costs, and they are not repaid.

Men Having Babies (menhavingbabies.org) offers financial assistance specifically for gay men and their partners pursuing surrogacy and egg donation. Their Surrogacy Assistance Program provides grants and subsidized services from participating agencies, clinics, and attorneys. Eligibility requirements and award amounts vary by cycle.

Forming Families Foundation (formingfamiliesfoundation.org) provides grants to individuals and couples facing financial barriers to building their families through assisted reproduction. 

RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association (resolve.org) maintains an updated list of financial assistance resources, including grants, that is worth checking for additional options.

What to Expect from Grant Applications 

Grants are competitive. Application cycles open and close, and processing times can take months. Most grants require documentation of financial need, a personal statement, and sometimes letters of support. Start your search early, as waiting until you are ready to begin the surrogacy process is too late for most grant timelines. Apply to multiple programs simultaneously where eligible.

3. Consider Fertility-Specific Loans

Loans designed specifically for assisted reproduction offer intended parents access to funds upfront, which can be important for paying agency fees and IVF costs before the journey begins in earnest.

Several lenders specialize in this space:

Sunfish (joinsunfish.com) is a marketplace specifically built for fertility financing, connecting intended parents with loan options tailored to surrogacy, IVF, egg donation, and adoption costs. Their platform lets borrowers compare options from multiple lenders in one place.

SoFi (sofi.com/personal-loans/ivf-loans/) offers personal loans for fertility treatments, with competitive rates for borrowers with strong credit profiles.

Ally (ally.com) offers medical and fertility financing products; verify their current fertility-specific offerings before referencing them. (Confirm current product availability before publishing.)

CapexMD (capexmd.com) specializes in medical financing, including fertility treatments.

What to Consider When Evaluating Loans 

Interest rates on fertility loans vary significantly based on your credit score, income, and the lender. 

Borrowing $50,000–$100,000 at a high interest rate meaningfully increases your total cost. Compare annual percentage rates (APRs) across lenders, understand repayment terms, and factor in loan repayment when planning your overall finances, not just the cost of surrogacy itself. A financial advisor familiar with assisted reproduction costs can be helpful here.

4. Use Crowdfunding as a Supplemental Strategy

Crowdfunding has become a common way for intended parents to share their surrogacy journey and invite their community to contribute financially. It can be a meaningful source of supplemental funds and an opportunity for family and friends to participate in a way that matters.

That said, it’s worth being realistic: most surrogacy crowdfunding campaigns raise a fraction of total costs, and very few raise more than $10,000–$15,000. Crowdfunding works best when you have a large, engaged personal network and are comfortable sharing your story publicly. It is rarely a standalone financing strategy, but as part of a broader approach, it can meaningfully offset some costs.

Practical Crowdfunding Considerations

Be transparent about where the funds are going and how they’ll be used. Some intended parents run campaigns alongside grant applications and loan closings, using crowdfunding to cover specific, clearly named expenses rather than the full cost of the journey.

Planning Your Financing Strategy

Most intended parents who successfully navigate surrogacy financing use a combination of approaches rather than relying on a single source. 

A typical approach might look like: employer benefits covering a portion of IVF costs; one or two grant applications in progress during the agency onboarding phase; a fertility loan covering agency fees and initial IVF costs; and a crowdfunding campaign running in parallel to offset specific expenses.

Starting your financial planning early, before you formally begin the surrogacy process, gives you the most options and the most time for grant applications to process.

Elevate Baby can help you understand what costs to expect at each stage of the journey and connect you with financial planning resources tailored to surrogacy. If you have additional questions, we’re here to help.

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