Q&A #4

Can anyone at all be a surrogate as long as they are healthy physically and mentally? Could a college kid do this for health insurance?


I'll tell you what the requirements are for most agencies first. 

• You have to have had at least one child of your own. (Most require you also have custody of that child.)
• You have to be generally healthy and no major medical history.
• Never had any STD's.
• Be between the ages of 21-38 (some say 42, depending on health.)
• You have to pass a psychiatric evaluation.
• Most require that you not be on Medicaid (welfare.)
• Be average weight for height.
• Non-smoker and no history of drug abuse.

That being said, there are the emotional aspects to think about too. You really have to be comfortable with the thought of carrying a baby for 9 months and then hand it over to its rightful parents. You also need to be comfortable with the idea of possibly losing your fertility in the process due to pregnancy or delivery complications. It's because of this that most surrogates wait until they are done having their own children before they choose to carry one for someone else. 

So, could someone do this for health insurance? If you mean, are they automatically given health insurance because they are pregnant, then no. Most intended parents pay for the health care costs out of pocket because even if the surrogate has insurance, many insurance companies have surrogacy exclusions. Meaning, if it's not your own baby that you're carrying they aren't going to pay for it. However if one wanted to use the money they are compensated with to purchase their own insurance, then I suppose they could, but probably wouldn't be able to until after the baby was born.


There is also the option of matching with intended parents independently avoiding the middle man of the agency. This option is cheaper (Most agencies charge around $10,000 for their services.) but can be much riskier. You can skip some of the steps, but most intended parents don't want to chance that the surrogate they are choosing isn't really going to try to keep the baby or try to get as much money out of them as possible. And vice versa, most surrogates want the security of knowing the parents are going to do what they say they are going to. That's not to say it cannot be done safely and securely, because agency involvement or not you still have be sure you are comfortable with each other. The whole process requires an immense amount of trust.


I don't try to pretend I know everything about surrogacy, because I certainly don't. Fortunately, everything I've been through has gone very smoothly. I've read peoples stories where the situation has gone very wrong or has been very difficult, so I count my blessings. I've learned a lot by doing research online and my biggest resource is www.surromomsonline.com . Just about any question you may have can be answered on this site and through its message boards. It's a wonderful tool to have handy.