How much does surrogacy cost for a gay couple?

Why does surrogacy cost more for two dads?

Because two dads need an egg donor as well as a surrogate. A heterosexual couple using the intended mother's own eggs pays for a surrogate, IVF and the legal work. Two fathers pay for all of that plus a donor match, donor compensation and the donor's medical cycle.

Everything else is the same. Private Label Surrogacy charges the same program fee, pays the surrogate the same compensation, and uses the same independent escrow and independent attorneys for every family. There is no separate LGBTQ+ program with a separate price.

All-in, surrogacy for a gay couple typically costs $150,000 to $200,000. This page breaks that down line by line, says who each payment goes to, and shows when each is due.

This page is written by Nancy Block, RN, founder of PLS. She has worked in egg donation and surrogacy since 2000, when she founded The Center for Egg Options Illinois.

What does the egg donor add to the budget?

Three costs, paid to three different places:

• The egg donation program fee, paid to PLS. $11,000 ($1,500 at donor reservation, $9,500 on invoice), or $8,500 when combined with a PLS surrogacy journey. It covers finding and screening a donor and coordinating her cycle with your clinic.
• Donor compensation, paid to the donor through escrow. From $10,000, set per match, and paid from escrow after retrieval. See egg donor compensation.
• The donor's medical cycle, paid to your clinic. Her screening, medications, monitoring and egg retrieval are clinic charges, part of your IVF bill.

There are smaller donor costs too, billed separately from the program fee. On the 2023 schedule, which PLS is updating: escrow management $400, complications insurance for the donor $385, her mental health evaluation $400 to $600, your legal fees $900, her legal fees $400 to $600, and travel for her and a companion $500 to $6,000. With donor compensation, these came to $12,935 to $18,835.

Bundling helps. When PLS coordinates both your egg donor and your surrogate, the egg donation program fee drops and the two searches are planned together. See bundling egg donation with surrogacy.

What does the itemized budget look like?

An optional Assured tier, proposed at $55,000, adds priority matching, unlimited rematches and no new agency fee if the first surrogate does not succeed.

A worked example with a donor match combined with your surrogacy journey: program fee $47,500; egg donation program fee $8,500; surrogate compensation package $68,000 to $78,000; third-party costs $15,300 to $29,000. That is $139,300 to $163,000 before donor compensation, your clinic's IVF bill and any dedicated surrogate health policy.

Where you land in the range depends mostly on three things: how many IVF cycles it takes to get the embryos you want, whether the surrogate's health plan covers surrogacy, and how complex the legal work is. International fathers and surrogates who live near a state line add legal time.

What is paid through escrow and when?

PLS never holds client money. You fund an independent licensed escrow agent, and you may choose your own escrow company.

1. At match: you deposit $10,000.
2. Before the surrogate starts medications: you deposit the balance.
3. From then on: the escrow agent pays the surrogate by milestone under your agreement, and pays most third-party costs as the work happens.

When PLS coordinates the egg donor match, donor compensation is also paid by the escrow agent, after retrieval.

What is not paid through escrow: the PLS program fee, paid to PLS in installments; your IVF and clinic fees, paid directly to your clinic; and a dedicated surrogate health policy, if needed.

The PLS program fee is $47,500. It is paid $22,500 at signing, $20,000 at surrogate acceptance and $5,000 at medical clearance.

Before you sign anything, ask for answers to five budget questions in writing:

1. Which costs go through escrow, and which are paid directly?
2. What does the egg donor match fee include, and what is billed separately?
3. How many IVF cycles does your clinic's quote assume?
4. What happens to the budget if the first transfer fails?
5. Has the surrogate's health plan been reviewed for surrogacy exclusions?

Nothing medical starts until the agreement is signed and escrow is funded. Why insist on this? Because agency failures happen. In late 2025 the Surro Connections agency collapsed, leading to a federal indictment in August 2026, and the SEAM escrow failure involved more than $16 million. PLS has used independent licensed escrow since 2017. See escrow.

What grants and financing exist for gay couples?

Several organizations offer grants, discounts or education on paying for family building. PLS points intended parents to:

• Men Having Babies, a nonprofit for gay fathers. Its Gay Parenting Assistance Program provides tiered grants and provider discounts to qualifying applicants. Tiers change yearly, so check the current program and apply directly with MHB. PLS has no formal affiliation with Men Having Babies; it is listed here as an external resource.
• Gift of Parenthood
• Coalition for Family Building
• EMD Serono
• FertilityIQ
• RESOLVE, the National Infertility Association

Each sets its own eligibility rules and deadlines. Apply to each directly, and apply early, because grant decisions can take longer than your clinic's scheduling.

Check, too, whether your employer's benefits include family-building coverage for surrogacy or egg donation.

Is any of this tax-deductible? In the US, IRS treatment of surrogacy and donor costs is narrow and fact-specific. Ask a tax professional before you assume a deduction.

How does a split sperm cycle change the cost?

In a split cycle, your clinic divides one egg donor's eggs and fertilizes half with each father's sperm. You get embryos from both fathers from a single donor cycle.

What changes in the budget:

• One donor, one retrieval. You pay one match fee, one donor compensation and one donor cycle, instead of two.
• Extra lab and storage work. Clinics may charge for fertilizing and testing two sets of embryos and for storing more of them; ask your clinic for a written quote.
• Fewer embryos per father. Splitting means each father has fewer embryos. If one father's set does not produce a tested embryo, you may need another cycle.

For a couple who wants a child from each father, a split cycle is usually cheaper than two separate donor cycles, because the largest donor costs are paid once. Each pregnancy still needs its own surrogate journey, with its own compensation and third-party costs.

Two embryos in one transfer, one from each father, is sometimes possible. It raises the chance of twins; twins add $5,000 to the surrogate's compensation, and most clinics and surrogates prefer a single embryo transfer.

What does a second (sibling) journey cost?

PLS charges 50 percent of the program fee for a sibling journey. Surrogate compensation and third-party costs are paid again in full, because there is a new agreement, a new escrow account and a new pregnancy.

If you already have frozen embryos from your first cycle, often from a split cycle, you may not need a new egg donor or a new IVF cycle. That removes the donor match fee, donor compensation and most clinic costs from the second budget. You still pay embryo storage and the frozen transfer.

If your first surrogate is willing and medically cleared to carry again, she becomes an experienced surrogate. Experienced surrogates receive $65,000 to $70,000 base compensation.

For the full picture of a two-dad journey, see gay surrogacy.

Sources

• Men Having Babies, Gay Parenting Assistance Program (external resource; no PLS affiliation claimed).
• RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association.
• Internal Revenue Service guidance on medical expense deductions; ask a tax professional.