Surrogacy in USA

Surrogacy in USA

Surrogate mother in USA

Surrogacy in the USA

Who can perform surrogacy procedures in the USA?

In this COUNTRY the following people can perform surrogacy processes:

  • Married heterosexual couples
  • Unmarried heterosexual couples
  • Single women
  • Single men
  • Female couples
  • Trans persons

The United States is the country that has been carrying out surrogacy processes for the longest time. The first processes were done in the 80's, almost four decades ago. It is traditionally the best known country, since most of the celebrities have chosen it to carry out their surrogacy process in the USA. Not because it is the safest destination, but because it has the most permissive legislation as is the case with California. That is why it has become one of the most popular states for this type of process.

Gestlife has its headquarters in Miami, Florida, USA (we belong to the American group INVESTMEDICAL,) so we are the only European agency that is not an intermediary of an American company. We are the same company on both sides of the ocean, which offers you important guarantees.

The USA has been for years the mecca of surrogacy. With different legislations in each state, California is the state where more processes can be performed due to its lack of restrictions. The USA, along with Greece (this country does not allow surrogacy procedures for single males) and Canada, are the only countries that issue a court ruling. However, (except in the case of Greece, where the ruling is recognized,) the fact that a judicial sentence has been issued does not bring advantages since it is still necessary a process of adoption by the second spouse in all countries that do not have legislation on the subject (some EU countries and most countries in the world.)

The surrogacy law in the USA

The United States is characterized by being a federal state, so each state has its own laws, which hypothesizes to the surrogacy processes in the USA. For this reason, there are states where surrogacy is prohibited and other states where it is allowed.

Where surrogacy is regulated in the United States (USA).
In the states where surrogacy is allowed in the USA, each state sets its own conditions, but in general it is also allowed for any family model. In the surrogacy of the USA, the surrogate must choose the intended parents, who in turn, can accept or reject her. Among the 13 states where surrogacy is allowed, California is the most popular destination. In Utah or Washington, surrogacy is altruistic, and commercial surrogacy is punishable.

Where surrogacy is not regulated in the United States (USA).
Secondly, there is a group of 15 so-called "surrogacy-friendly" states. These are states such as Idaho, Connecticut or Rhode Island where, although there is no law providing the procedure, they are in favor of surrogacy. It is the courts who decide in each case.

Where surrogacy is forbidden in the United States (USA)
Thirdly, we have the States that prohibit surrogacy in the USA. Among these states that prohibit surrogacy, there are some that even consider it as a criminal offense, such as Arizona or Michigan. Therefore, they impose fines and jail sentences, not only to intended parents, but to anyone who participates in surrogacy. While others do not establish any penalty, they simply declare the surrogacy agreement null and void.

Type of surrogacy in the United States (USA)
As in most countries, surrogacy in the United States is full gestational surrogacy, in which the surrogate does not provide genetic material. In fact, in many of the countries that regulate surrogacy, it is forbidden for the surrogate to provide her eggs. The genetic material is either provided by the intended parents or by a donor which can be either eggs or sperm. The donor can be anonymous or chosen.

In whose name will the baby be registered once it is born?

The recognition of the affiliation may not be automatic but once initiated, a judicial proceeding is carried out where a judgment will be issued declaring the affiliation of the parents. In addition they eliminate the affiliation that may be established with respect to the surrogate and her husband, if she is married. This is the case of surrogacy in California.

Regarding the nationality, by the mere fact of being born in the USA, the child will be able to opt for the American nationality. This is done even if the parents are of another nationality, although later they will be able to opt for the nationality of the parent or parents. There is a belief that children born in the USA will have dual nationality, but what they have are two nationalities which cannot be used simultaneously. What happens is that for North America the child will be North American and for the country of origin of the parents, he/she will have that nationality.

If you would like more information about our programs, you can make a free, no-obligation telephone appointment by CLICKING HERE.

A person in charge of assistance in the country, in your language (English, French, Italian, German, Spanish.)

Our staff will assist you in our office in Miami Florida. With Gestlife, you will never feel like a stranger in a foreign country.

Our own office in USA

Gestlife has its own office in Miami. We are not intermediaries. We are not a company that does not have an office in the USA which uses an intermediary in another country that has an external collaborator. Too many middlemen.

Legal assistance in the USA

Gestlife has lawyers in its office in Miami, Florida, USA, to assist you throughout the process.

If you would like more information about our programs, you can make a free, no-obligation telephone appointment by CLICKING HERE.

Personal assistance during your travels.

We try our best to make the surrogacy process a pleasurable trip, not a nightmare. But mishaps can always arise which can endanger the biological parents (illness, accident). Gestlife takes care of managing your travel needs by providing insurance to guarantee you complete assistance in case of any incident. We take care of managing and organizing all the services related to these issues so that you do not have to deal with it. Our philosophy is to take care of the parents 24 hours a day.

Legal assistance in your home country

Most "agencies" finish their work when they deliver the baby to you. Then can help you to leave the country, but then, it is up to you to register your baby in your country of origin. At Gestlife we have a network of lawyers in all countries to take care of the final process in your country of origin that will allow you to register your child without problems.

Cost of a surrogacy process in the USA

Therefore, if you want to do the surrogacy process in the United States, you must have a budget of between 160.000 and 180.000 euros, for one baby, and can exceed 200,000 euros if there are two babies (because they are almost always born prematurely, since it is a twin birth, and incubator and medical expenses are required).

Although there are some insurances that apparently can cover part of these expenses, but they are very expensive, and have important deductibles to be paid by the parents. Consult with our consultants if you wish to carry out your surrogacy process in the United States (USA).

Medical insurance for surrogate motherhood in the United States (USA)
Health care in the USA is private, so all the expenses derived from a surrogacy process in the United States must be assumed by the intended parents. To avoid possible medical expenses that are not foreseen, it is advisable to make sure that the medical insurance that the surrogate is covered. If this is not the case, it is advisable to take out an insurance policy for the pregnant woman so that she is covered Also, you would want an insurance policy that covers the child's expenses since the surrogate woman's insurance will not cover it. This insurance should cover the costs of incubator, operations, twin pregnancy, etc.

If you would like more information about our programs, you can make a free, no-obligation telephone appointment by CLICKING HERE.

What programs can I hire in the USA?

In all our countries, you can contract the following programs:

  • STANDARD
  • STANDARD PLUS

You can consult the services included in each program in the dossiers of each country. Ask your family advisor for them, with no obligation.

HIV, Hepatitis and sexually transmitted diseases

Gestlife is one of the few agencies that have programs for parents who test positive for HIV, Hepatitis, or venereal diseases. Nowadays, this is not impede to parenthood. If this is the case, consult with your family counselor, and we will be happy to help you

If you would like more information about our programs, you can make a free, no-obligation telephone appointment by CLICKING HERE.

Special characteristics of the country:

Surrogacy clinics in the USA are top-notch, and surrogacy agencies usually work quite well. But in the USA there is no Social Security as we understand it in Europe. Medicine is private and in a surrogacy process in the USA, if there are any medical expenses you will have to pay for them. For example, if the child needs an incubator, you will have to pay between 4,000 and 8,000 US dollars/day for the intensive care unit. So you know what the starting price is, but never what the price of surrogacy is in total. The USA is a country where parents with affluent salaries can carry out processes, given that the processes cost between 160,000 and 190,000 euros.

Whoever tells you otherwise is misleading you and hides costs that will appear later in order to simply make the surrogacy program in the USA more attractive. They do it because he/she has no other destination to offer you. Surrogacy in the United States, after all, is forced to compete with countries like the Ukraine, Albania or Greece, where it costs less than half as much. It is difficult to sell something that costs twice as much just on the basis of a past prestige, which today has been matched by many countries.

In the USA there are mainly two types of surrogacy programs:

  1. Surrogacy processes in the United States that are performed entirely in the USA.
  2. The surrogacy processes in the USA, but with the assisted reproduction process (IVF) in Cancun Mexico with the surrogate moving to that city for the embryo transfer. Then she returns to the USA, where the pregnancy will continue until the birth of the child, which will take place in the USA. These are the so-called "CROSSBORDER" programs, which are more economical than those performed entirely in the USA. However the clinics in Mexico have lower success rates than the American ones, and sometimes what we have saved by doing this, ends up being invested in new embryo transfers and new IVFs. This surrogacy procedure is tempting since the price is lower, but we must be aware of the problems they may entail. This type of program has proven to be very problematic in recent year, given the complexity of the process between the two countries. We strongly discourage this type of program .

Disadvantages

There is a shortage of pregnant women, so the time to assign a pregnant woman can take 6-8 months.

The surrogacy agency in the USA assigns a surrogate to you, but the surrogate must accept you as the intended parents.

The cost of surrogacy procedures in the USA is the most expensive in the world. A surrogacy process costs between €160,000 and €190,000, if there are no surprises.

If you would like more information about our programs, you can make a free, no-obligation telephone appointment by CLICKING HERE.

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Fatherhood changed our lives. There was a before, and an after. And the after, it was much better. So neither short nor lazy, we started this subject years ago of making the unreal real, the impossible possible. Today we are more than 100 people in 7 countries.


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  • Information offices in Spain

  • GESTLIFE BARCELONA

  • Paseo de Gracia nº: 54, Planta 8

  • 08007 Barcelona (Spain)


  • +34 650 030 482

    [email protected]