There are generally two types of payment arrangements when you engage a surrogacy agency – pay as you go or a package price. At KinPath Surrogacy we offer fixed fee package programs. That means to the best of our ability we give you a fixed fee program to cover everything from start to finish within the parameters of our programs. A pay as you go program means that you will be invoiced for each third party expense and at regular intervals to cover surrogate expenses. In the USA or Canada you will be required to pay a large percentage of the expected total cost into an escrow account from which each expense will then be deducted.
Are There Surrogacy Programs Cheaper than USA Programs?
As a guide surrogacy programs in the USA or Canada will cost intended parents approximately $150,000 plus but you will not know the total cost until about 6 months after the baby has been born. In the USA and Canada each surrogate will negotiate her own compensation package so that category of expense can vary significantly. This is because the Intended Parents will be responsible for every expense incurred by the surrogate and the surrogate can make a claim for expenses up until the 6 month after birth time.
Although programs in Latin America or Eastern Europe will be significantly cheaper many agencies only offer pay as you go programs. In those circumstances it is likely that Intended Parents will pay fixed sums up front from which expenses are deducted but the total amount payable cannot be accurately predicted at the beginning of the journey. As an example a surrogate for one lot of parents may incur $5,500 in medical costs but another surrogate could incur medical costs of $7,000. There will also be fees charged to Intended Parents for every step eg: travel costs, medication, each embryo transfer, each blood test or ultrasound.
Do KinPath’s Fixed Fee Programs Involve Any Extra Payments?
At KinPath Surrogacy we have analysed the total costs of our programs in each country and each clinic over the years and apply statistical modelling to produce a fixed fee package price based on defined parameters. It means that we allow a certain amount for each category of costs eg: surrogate screening, surrogate travel costs, surrogate medication, surrogate life insurance, health insurance for the surrogate and the baby, social security payments, surrogate compensation, clinic medical costs, pregnancy medical copayments and deductibles, legal fees and hospital delivery fees. We also apply a fixed administrative charge for our fixed overheads such as staff salaries, office rent, IT costs etc. It is only where an Intended Parent requires a different or additional service outside our agreed program parameters that we need to render an additional invoice.
How Does the Surrogate Mother Receive Her Payment?
KinPath Surrogacy staff in each country have access to a corporate Visa or Mastercard debit card from which they can pay regular expenses. The category of expenses that are paid by our staff using these debit cards range from uber trips, meals for surrogates, grocery shopping, medication from pharmacies, maternity clothing, short-term emergency accommodation, utility bills, blood tests and other occasional clinic fees, notary fees, translation costs, social security contributions, health insurance premiums, co-payments and deductibles, office expenses and telephone/communication costs. The clinic package program fees, PGT costs, legal fees, staff salaries and office rent are paid directly by telegraphic transfer from our main corporate bank account. Surrogate compensation is paid by a variety of different means depending on the surrogate’s preference and local banking regulations.
The issue of payments of compensation to the surrogates is complicated and causes the most problems. The amount of compensation that the surrogate receives, particularly at the end of each trimester, is much higher than any payment that the surrogate is likely to have received in her life. Sometimes the receipt of such an amount as one lump sum can trigger red flags with banking regulators and cause the payment to be blocked. In Argentina if the surrogate receives any money into her bank account it is subject to an immediate tax of 25% or higher.
To avoid these issues and maximise the compensation to the surrogates we pay some surrogates using crypto, some through payment and foreign currency applications and some directly to their bank accounts but in smaller instalments for each payment. Facilitating all of this is at significant cost to KinPath Surrogacy. Using crypto or payment applications costs approximately 5% of the amount transferred. In order to utilise these methods of payment we must transfer funds between the KinPath accounts incurring additional fees.
How Often are Program Fees Reviewed?
All of these fees and transaction costs are constantly increasing and feed into the upward pressure on our program costs. As clinics become busier they seek to increase their fees based on the supply & demand philosophy rather than actual increases in their costs. Surrogate mothers talk with each other extensively, even across different agencies, and they all quickly learn which agency offers the best compensation packages.
As a result of this constant upward pressure on costs and the fact that KinPath has a fixed fee business model means that we have to regularly review our program package prices. In the past 5 years our program fees at KinPath have been revised between two and three times each year.
