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Surrogacy in the United States
We make the impossible possible
Who can do surrogacy processes in the United States?
- Married heterosexual couples.
- Unmarried heterosexual couples.
- Single women
- Single men.
- Same Sex couples.
- Trans people
The United States is the country that has been carrying out surrogacy processes for the longest time. The first surrogacy procedures were carried out in the 1980s, almost four decades ago. It is traditionally the best known country, as most celebrities have opted for 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. This 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 Invest Medical LLC), 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 the mecca of surrogacy for years. With different legislation in each state, California is the state where most surrogacy procedures can be carried out due to its lack of restrictions. The USA, along with Greece (which does not allow surrogacy procedures for unmarried people) and Canada, are the only countries that issue a court ruling. However, (except in the case of Greece for Spanish citizens, where the judgement is recognised), the fact that a court judgement has been issued does not bring advantages, as an adoption process by the second spouse is still necessary in all countries that do not have legislation on the matter (EU countries and most countries in the world).
Gestlife in the United States
Surrogacy law in the USA
The United States is a federal state, so each state has its own laws, which is extrapolated to surrogacy processes in the USA, for this reason, there are states where surrogacy is prohibited and other states where it is allowed.
Where is surrogacy regulated in the United States?
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 surrogacy in 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 and Washington, surrogacy is altruistic, while commercial surrogacy is punishable.
Where is surrogacy not regulated in the United States?
Secondly, there is a group of 15 so-called ‘surrogacy-friendly’ states. These include states such as Idaho, Connecticut and Rhode Island where, although there is no law covering surrogacy, they are favourable to surrogacy in the United States. It is the courts who decide in each case.
Where is surrogacy prohibited in the United States?
Thirdly, we have the states that prohibit surrogacy in the USA. Among these states that prohibit surrogacy, there are some that even consider it a criminal offence, such as Arizona or Michigan. Therefore, they impose fines and prison sentences, not only on intended parents, but on anyone who participates in surrogacy in the United States, while others do not impose any penalty: they simply declare the surrogacy agreement null and void.
Type of surrogacy in the United States
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 after birth?
There is a belief (and this was the case for years in the past) that the great advantage of doing a process in the USA, was that both spouses, regardless of whether they were a heterosexual or homosexual couple, were quasi-automatically registered in the Spanish civil registry, because they both appeared in the sentence issued by a court, which after the requirement of a procedure called EXEQUATUR, was recognised in Spain. But unfortunately, after the entry of the socialist party in the government, it instructed the central civil registry, where children born abroad are registered, not to register any more children born by surrogacy, sending the registry to the family court, to have to end up doing a process of filiation, as in other countries, and the subsequent adoption of the child, in the case that there is a second member in the couple. From this violation of the Spanish constitution, the Spanish civil code, and the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, which years ago, obliges the registration of babies in the name of the commissioning father, only the processes in Greece escape, as Spain does not dare to deny the validity of a sentence of an EU country. Unfortunately, Greece only allows surrogacy procedures for heterosexual couples or single women, making it impossible to come as a single man or homosexual couple to this country to carry out a surrogacy program.
The recognition of the filiation may not be automatic, but once it is initiated, a judicial procedure is carried out, where a sentence will be issued that will declare the filiation of the parents, as well as extinguishing the filiation that may be established with respect to the surrogate and her husband, if she is married. This is the case for surrogacy in California.
As for nationality, by the mere fact of being born in the USA, the child may opt for US nationality, even if the parents are of another nationality, although they may later opt for the nationality of the commissioning parent(s). There is a belief that children born in the USA 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.
A local support representative who speaks your language
Our staff will assist you in our office in Miami, Florida, USA in your language (Spanish, French, Italian, German, English, Portugal). In a process where legal issues are mixed with medical issues, it is important to speak the same language and understand each other. With Gestlife, you will never feel like a stranger in a foreign country.
It is something that seems obvious, when with some agencies you are lucky enough to speak to an advisor in your language, but as soon as you sign the contract, the rest of the staff do not speak it, and you will have to defend yourself in English, or in another language, with translators. Make sure if you talk to other agencies that this will not happen. A year and a half (the length of a process) having to speak in other languages is very stressful.
Own office in the USA
Gestlife has its own office in this country. We are not an intermediary. Our staff will assist you at our office in Miami, Florida, in your language.
In a process that involves legal and medical matters, it’s important to speak the same language and understand each other. With Gestlife, you’ll never feel like a stranger in a foreign country.
Legal assistance in the USA
Gestlife has lawyers in its Miami, Florida, USA office to assist you throughout the process.
Legal assistance in your home country
Most “agencies” finish their work when they hand over the baby to you. Others 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 procedure in your country of origin that will allow you to register your child without any problems.
Personal assistance during your travels
We try our best to make the surrogacy process a pleasure trip, not a nightmare. But there can always be setbacks, which can endanger the commissioning parents (illness, accident).
Gestlife takes care of managing your travel assistance insurance, to guarantee you complete assistance in the event of any incident, and we take care of managing and organising all the services related to this issue, so that you don’t have to worry about it.
Our philosophy is to take care of the parents 24 hours a day.
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 and euros, for one baby, and can exceed 200,000 euros if there are two babies (because they are always born prematurely, due to the fact that it is a twin birth, and an incubator and medical expenses are required).
Although there are some insurance policies that can apparently cover part of these expenses, they are very expensive and have important deductibles to be paid by the parents. Consult with our advisors if you wish to carry out your surrogacy process in the United States (USA).
Medical insurance for surrogacy in the United States
Healthcare 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. In order to avoid possible unforeseen medical expenses, it is advisable to make sure that the surrogate mother’s medical insurance covers this practice. If this is not the case, it is advisable to take out insurance for the surrogate so that she is covered, as well as insurance that covers the child’s expenses, since the surrogate’s insurance will not cover them. This insurance should cover the costs of the incubator, operations, twin pregnancy, etc.
What programs can I hire in the USA?
In all our countries, you can take out the following programs:
- BASIC
- STANDARD
- STANDARD PLUS
- STANDARD PLUS PREMIUM
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 sexually transmitted diseases. Nowadays, this is not an impediment to parenthood. If this is your case, consult with your family counsellor, and we will be happy to help you.
Special characteristics of the country
Surrogacy clinics in the United States are top-notch, and surrogacy agencies tend to have good results. But in the United States, there is no social security as we know it in Europe. Medicine is private, and therefore, in a surrogacy process in the United States, if there are medical expenses, we will have to pay them. So, for example, if the child needs an incubator, we will have to pay between $4,000 and $8,000 per day for the intensive care unit, so we know the starting price, but never the price of surrogacy. The United States is a country where parents with greater financial resources can carry out the procedures, as the procedures cost between €160,000 and €180,000.
Those who tell you otherwise are deceiving you and hiding costs that will appear later, in order to make the US surrogacy program more attractive, perhaps because they have no other destination to offer. After all, surrogacy in the US competes with countries like Russia or Greece, where it costs less than half. And it’s difficult to sell something that costs twice as much based solely on past prestige, which many countries now match.
In the United States, there are primarily two types of surrogacy programs:
- Surrogacy procedures in the United States performed entirely in the United States
- Surrogacy processes are carried out in the United States, but with the IVF process in Cancún, Mexico, the surrogate mother travels to that city for the embryo transfer and then returns to the United States, where the pregnancy will continue until the birth of the child, which will take place in the United States.
These are the so-called “CROSSBORDER” programs, which are less expensive than those carried out entirely in the United States. However, as we mentioned, Mexican clinics have lower success rates than those in the United States, and sometimes the savings we save end up being invested in new embryo transfers and new IVF programs. These surrogacy programs in the United States are tempting, given their lower cost, but you must be aware of the problems they can cause. These types of programs have proven very problematic in recent years, given the complexity of the process between two countries and the unsatisfactory results of clinics in Mexico.
We strongly advise against these types of programs.
- There is no social security. Therefore, all medical costs related to surrogacy in the United States are your responsibility.
- In the United States, there is no fixed price for surrogacy. If there are additional costs, such as an incubator, etc., you will have to pay them, and the cost of the process can skyrocket.
- There is a shortage of surrogate, so the time to find a surrogate mother can take 6 to 8 months.
- The surrogacy agency in the United States assigns you a surrogate mother, but she must accept them as the intended parents.
- The cost of surrogacy in the United States is the highest in the world. A surrogacy process costs between €100,000 and €180,000, if there are no surprises.
- This information is an indicative summary of the legislation in your country regarding surrogacy. We recommend that you do not carry out any procedure without first having spoken to one of our legal advisors, and the company is not responsible for any actions that parents may carry out on their own without the direct advice of our lawyers.
