Surrogacy Insurance
Optional Surrogacy Insurance Policies
- IVF Complications Insurance – covers complications from fertility medications and procedures associated with the embryo transfer cycle
- Back-Up Maternity Coverage – backup plan in case your surrogate’s insurance changes mid-journey or she loses her insurance coverage
- Maternity Medical Billing Management Service – management of all medical bills during pregnancy, delivery and postpartum to make sure bills are appropriately covered by insurance
- Accidental Death Coverage for Intended Parents – reimburses you for the costs of surrogacy in the event of the death of your surrogate without a live birth
- Stillbirth Coverage – reimburses you for the costs of surrogacy if you experience a loss after 20 weeks
- Permanent and Total Disablement Coverage – pays a lump sum to your surrogate if she is permanently and totally disabled as a result of the pregnancy
- Loss of Reproductive Organs Coverage – covers the compensation you are required to pay to your surrogate if she suffers a partial or total hysterectomy
- Bed Rest Insurance – covers lost wages, childcare and housekeeping expenses for your surrogate if she is on doctor ordered bed rest prior to delivery
- Hospital Indemnity – covers lost wages, childcare and housekeeping expenses for your surrogate if she is hospitalized with pregnancy complications prior to delivery
How does Surrogate Medical Insurance work in NY?
- Almost all surrogates in NY have surrogacy friendly insurance thanks to a directive from the NYS Department of Finance requiring insurance companies to cover surrogate pregnancies to the same extent as any other pregnancy with very limited exceptions
- If your surrogate resides in NY, you are required to reimburse your surrogate for her medical insurance premiums from the start of the embryo transfer cycle until 12 months after the pregnancy ends
- If your surrogate is on a family plan, you only need to reimburse her for her portion of those premiums
- You are required to pay for the premiums of a $750,000 term life insurance policy for your surrogate from the start of the embryo transfer cycle until 12 months after the pregnancy ends
- NYS Medicaid will cover a surrogate pregnancy
Medical Insurance Options for Surrogates:
- Surrogate’s existing surrogacy friendly policy
- Marketplace/ACA plan (can be obtained during annual open enrollment or upon confirmation of pregnancy in a few select states)
- Surrogacy Maternity policy (this is the most expensive option, but you can switch to a Marketplace/ACA plan at open enrollment)
Frequently Asked Questions about Surrogate Insurance
Surrogacy friendly insurance is a medical insurance policy that will cover medical bills related to pregnancy, delivery and post-natal care for a surrogate pregnancy.
NYSC will have your surrogate’s existing insurance policy reviewed during the pre-screening process so that you’ll know what her insurance status is at the time you’re considering her profile. Insurance can be a large cost item in your surrogacy journey, so we believe it’s important for you to have this information available at the time of matching.
Unfortunately, surrogacy friendly insurance does not cover fertility clinic fees, only medical bills that occur once your surrogate becomes pregnant and is discharged by your clinic to her OB.
Unfortunately, these still are not covered because they are still fertility related and would not be needed if the pregnancy hadn’t resulted from IVF.
The surrogate’s surrogacy friendly insurance policy will start being used once she is discharged from the fertility clinic to her OB.
If you’re in open enrollment (typically late Fall through February), you can enroll your surrogate in a Marketplace/ACA plan. Some states also allow for you to enroll your surrogate in a Marketplace/ACA plan outside of open enrollment based on confirmation of pregnancy. If neither of those are options, you can purchase a Surrogate Maternity policy and possibly switch from that to a Marketplace/ACA plan during open enrollment.
Typically, the surrogate pays the insurance premiums for her existing policy, but the intended parents pay for the premiums of any policy that is purchased specifically for the surrogacy journey. However, in NY, intended parents are required to pay the premiums for the surrogate’s existing medical insurance policy.
After birth, the Intended Parents will add the baby to their insurance (coverage will be effective as of the date of birth) and the baby’s expenses at the hospital will be billed to the intended parent’s insurance.
Insurance Guides
Click to download International Fertility Insurance Guide PDF
