What are you paid if the embryo transfer fails?
You keep everything paid to that point. After a transfer that does not result in a pregnancy, the monthly allowance you have received, the medication start fee and the transfer fee are yours. Those are $300 per month, $500 and $1,000. Base compensation has not started, because it begins at a confirmed fetal heartbeat.
A failed transfer does not by itself mean anything went wrong with you or with your screening. The pregnancy test comes 9 to 11 days after transfer. If it is negative, the contract provides for another transfer if you and the intended parents agree. See the two-week wait for what those days involve.
The principle behind every row below: compensation is for the time and medical risk you have taken on, not for a live birth. That is why it is never structured as all-or-nothing.
| Outcome | What is paid | What continues | What the contract allows next |
|---|---|---|---|
| Failed transfer | Allowance to date, medication start fee, transfer fee | Allowance, if another transfer is planned | Another transfer, if both sides agree |
| Chemical pregnancy (positive test, no heartbeat) | Allowance to date, medication start fee, transfer fee | Insurance and support through recovery | Another transfer, if both sides agree |
| First-trimester loss after heartbeat | Base installments paid to date; loss fee; D&C fee if needed | Insurance, lost wages for recovery, counseling | Another transfer, if both sides agree |
| Loss after 20 weeks | Base installments paid to date; loss fee; procedure fees | Insurance, lost wages for recovery, counseling | Set by your agreement |
| Stillbirth | Base installments paid to date; loss fee; delivery-related fees | Insurance, postpartum lost wages, counseling | Set by your agreement |
Loss fee and D&C fee amounts are being confirmed with Nancy Block, RN.
What are you paid after an early miscarriage?
The base compensation installments paid to the date of loss are yours. You do not repay them. Most contracts, including PLS contracts, also provide a loss fee after a confirmed pregnancy ends.
You are also covered for what follows: a fee for a D&C if one is required, lost wages for your recovery, and continued health insurance. Medical care after a loss is a pregnancy-related cost and is paid by the intended parents, as all pregnancy care is.
What are you paid after a loss in the second or third trimester?
A later loss is medically and emotionally harder, and recovery takes longer. The financial terms follow the same principle. Installments already paid are yours. A loss fee and fees for any procedure or delivery are paid. Lost wages cover your recovery, and your insurance continues.
How the remaining base installments are treated after a loss late in pregnancy is set in your agreement. PLS standard terms are being confirmed with Nancy. Ask your attorney to walk you through this clause before you sign. It is better to read it once, calmly, than to learn it during a crisis.
Fees for D&C and other procedures after a loss
Some losses need a procedure: a D&C to clear the uterus, a delivery, or treatment for a complication. Each is covered medically by your insurance arrangement, with the intended parents paying any costs not covered. Your agreement also sets a fee paid to you for a D&C or a similar procedure.
Mark Silverberg, DDS, MD, who wrote this page, is the PLS Executive Director and an anesthesiologist with more than 30 years of practice, many of them in obstetric and gynecologic cases. He reads every PLS surrogate candidate's prenatal and delivery records before she is matched and writes a medical summary for the intended parents' clinic. That review does not prevent every loss. It does mean your history is understood before medication starts, and that the clinic is working from a physician's reading of it.
Do you have to try again?
No. Another transfer happens only if you and the intended parents agree. Most PLS contracts cover up to three transfer attempts; the number is set in your contract. Agreeing to a number in your contract does not oblige you to continue if your health or circumstances change. Talk it through with your case manager and your own attorney.
If you do try again, the medication start fee and transfer fee are paid again for the new cycle.
Emotional support after a loss
A loss is a loss, whatever the genetics. PLS arranges sessions with an independent licensed mental-health professional, paid by the intended parents. PLS does not employ in-house psychologists, so the person you talk to answers to you. See mental-health support.
Your case manager stays with you through it. Natalie Gaudio-Fricano and Jenni Symons, who carry the active PLS matches, have both been surrogates.
How losses are handled in escrow
The money for your compensation sits with an independent licensed escrow agent, funded by the intended parents before medications begin. After a loss, the escrow agent pays what your agreement says is owed: fees, lost wages and reimbursements. PLS never holds the money, and payments already made are not clawed back. See the payment schedule and surrogate compensation.
Sources
- Private Label Surrogacy compensation schedule and contract practice, pending confirmation by Nancy Block, RN.