What is the Actual Cost of Surrogacy in Canada?

How much surrogacy costs in Canada — Getty Images

If you can relate to the one in every six couples who find themselves facing fertility struggles in Canada, are single and looking to start a family or are in a same-sex partnership, you may be wondering about all the paths to parenthood that exist. Certainly seeking fertility treatments is one option, as is adoption, but for some surrogacy may be the only answer.

You might not have known this, but surrogacy is legal in Canada — though there are restrictions. What isn’t legal is paying someone to be a gestational surrogate. However, this doesn’t mean surrogacy is free. This is where it gets tricky, because you are allowed to reimburse a surrogate for specific costs they may incur as a result of the pregnancy. While it’s important that you do your own research and ensure you know the correct rules to follow for your situation, here is a little bit more about how surrogacy works in Canada.

What is gestational surrogacy?

According to Anova Fertility in Toronto, “surrogacy describes the relationship when a woman agrees to bear a child for another person(s) who will become the legal parent(s) of the child.” Worth noting is that there are two main types of surrogates. As outlined by Anova Fertility:

Gestational surrogate: This “describes a situation where the woman is not genetically related to the child and eggs or sperm either come from the intended parent(s) or a donor.”
Traditional surrogate: This “refers to a woman who both provides the eggs and carries the pregnancy.”

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Why do some people consider surrogacy?

While there can be as many personal reasons for surrogacy as there are individuals looking into the option, many choose to opt for this route for one of the following reasons:

Medical conditions that impact fertility, preventing a person from getting pregnant
Medical conditions that make it unsafe for a person to conceive or carry the baby, posing health risks to either the parent or the baby
Same-sex couples who may require a gestational surrogate to build their family

So how does gestational surrogacy work in Canada?

According to the Assisted Human Reproduction Act, all surrogacy in Canada must fall in the altruistic category. This means that the person agreeing to be a gestational surrogate must be willing to do so for no personal financial gain to themselves. In other words, they must be willing to become a surrogate out of the sheer goodness of their heart, wanting to help and support the would-be parents along on their parenting journey. Also worth noting is that your surrogate cannot be under the age of 21.

This legislation was introduced in 2004 to prevent exploitation of women and the commercialization of surrogacy.

Navigating the costs of surrogacy in Canada

Under the same act, it is a criminal offence to pay, offer to pay or advertise payment for a surrogate mother (breaching this could lead up to $500,000 in penalties and up to 10 years in prison). Instead, surrogates may be reimbursed for specific expenses relating to the pregnancy. Just note that only qualified costs you have receipts for can be factored into your reimbursement of the surrogate. You want to hold on to these receipts, because you will need to submit them down the road.

You will require representation

You will require the services of a surrogacy agency to help you navigate this process and the different considerations ahead of any arrangements (this will also include the services of a lawyer and a counsellor experienced in assisted reproduction).

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How do the surrogacy costs break down?

While paying someone to be a surrogate is illegal, as we’ve mentioned, surrogacy isn’t actually free. It can definitely come with hefty costs. According to Surrogacy In Canada Online, these are some of the categories you can expect to pay for, though of course, every situation is different, and not every cost may be necessary:

For gestational surrogacy:

$0-$1,000 – Medical evaluation
$10,000-$20,000 – Frozen transfer cycle/in vitro fertilization cycle (depending on how many cycles are necessary)
$800-$1,000 – Surrogate psychological evaluation and intended parent(s) implication counselling (add $300 per hour if mediation services are required)
$1,500-$3,000 (or more) – Pre-pregnancy surrogate mother expenses (expenses such as those incurred commuting to appointments, childcare, lost wages, food, vitamins, airfare, accommodations, etc.)
$18,000-$25,000 (or more) – Pregnancy/post partum surrogate mother expenses (receiptable expenses such as clothing, food, vitamins, childcare, travel costs, lost wages, medications and more)
$0-$16,000 – Additional surrogate mother expenses (C-section birth, multiple births and bedrest can lead to additional costs, each)
$5,000-$8,000 – Legal fees for both parties
$300-$500 – One-year life insurance policy (necessary to protect the surrogate’s family)
$0-$500 – DNA diagnostics (this isn’t mandatory, but it’s recommended)
$0 – $20,000 – Consultant/agency fee

For traditional surrogacy:

$0-$1,000 – Medical evaluation
$0-$20,000 (or more) – Intrauterine insemination cycle/home insemination/in vitro fertilization cycle (the cost will depend on the method of insemination – IVF cycles cost more than IUIs)
$0-$1,000 – Surrogate psychological evaluation and intended parent(s) implication counselling (add $300 per hour if mediation services are required)
$1,500-$3,000 (or more) – Pre-pregnancy surrogate mother expenses (expenses such as those incurred commuting to appointments, childcare, lost wages, food, airfare, accommodations, etc.)
$18,000-$25,000 (or more) – Pregnancy/post partum surrogate mother expenses (receiptable expenses such as clothing, food, childcare, travel costs, lost wages, medications and more)
$0-$16,000 – Additional surrogate mother expenses (C-section birth, multiple births and bedrest can lead to additional costs, each)
$5,000-$8,000 – Legal fees for both parties
$300-$500 – One-year life insurance policy (necessary to protect the surrogate’s family)
$0-$500 – DNA diagnostics (this isn’t mandatory, but it’s recommended)
$0 – $20,000 – Consultant/agency fee

So how much should you be budgeting in total?

For either type of surrogacy, you should be budgeting around $95,000 on the higher end (if you already have frozen embryos, you’re instead looking at total costs of about $75,000).

Of course, this is a sliding scale estimate, and the necessary costs will also depend on the specific services enlisted and your specific provider’s costs, as they can vary quite a bit.

Because the agencies are still unlicensed, and reimbursement rules are still pretty open to interpretation about what can legitimately be claimed as an expense (as well as the process by which these expenses are claimed), there is some criticism about transparency of the surrogacy process in Canada as a whole.

Whichever path you choose, it’s worth doing your research, speaking to or reading about others who’ve undergone similar journeys, and of course, remembering that each journey to parenthood is unique.