Intended Parents

Understanding the Risks of a Low-Cost Surrogacy Agency

Picking the right surrogacy agency is a big step in starting your family. Some agencies may offer cheaper prices, but those savings can come with serious problems. A low price might sound good, but it can actually cost you more in the long run—emotionally and financially.

Agencies that charge less might skip important steps like full health checks or legal support. These shortcuts could create big issues later. Choosing the cheapest option might seem smart at first, but it could delay your dream of becoming a parent.

Much of the information found in this article comes from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), specifically their guidelines on surrogacy best practices. You can read their guidelines here:

What “Low Cost” Really Means in Surrogacy

Medical Shortcuts

Budget-friendly surrogacy agencies often limit or exclude critical medical services—such as thorough health screenings and mental evaluations—that are essential for a safe and successful surrogacy experience. Budget agencies will:

Rely on limited medical evaluations that omit thorough screenings such as infectious disease testing, fertility assessments, and comprehensive physical exams, which the ASRM and the CDC call “essential” for ensuring the safety and effectiveness.
Neglect psychological assessments of potential surrogates, a crucial step recommended by the ASRM to ensure emotional preparedness, informed consent, and the overall success of the surrogacy journey.
Partner with clinics that may lack proper accreditation, experienced staff, or advanced fertility technology, which can significantly lower success rates and increase health risks for both surrogates and intended parents.

Skipping essential screenings and relying on substandard clinical practices can lead to heightened medical risks, including complications during pregnancy, reduced success rates of embryo implantation, and potential harm to both surrogate and child.

Weak Legal Help

Some agencies don’t give you proper legal protection. This can lead to:

Contracts that lack comprehensive terms may omit key protections such as contingency plans, dispute resolution clauses, and state-specific legal requirements, increasing the risk of miscommunication and legal vulnerability for intended parents.
Disputes over legal parentage can arise if intended parents are not properly recognized under state or international law, which can jeopardize custody rights and result in lengthy legal battles if pre-birth or post-birth orders are not established in compliance with jurisdictional requirements.
Delays in securing birth certificates, parentage orders, or immigration documents for your baby can occur when agencies fail to follow state-specific legal processes or neglect proper legal representation.

Legal disputes in surrogacy can lead to prolonged emotional and financial strain, with some cases taking years to resolve due to complex jurisdictional laws and inconsistent enforcement of parentage rights.

Poor Support for Surrogates

Agencies that cut costs often fail to ensure fair surrogate compensation, omit necessary emotional and clinical support structures, and provide inadequate guidance on navigating complex health insurance coverage—conditions that can significantly affect a surrogate’s well-being and compromise the stability and success of the entire journey.

Learn More About Trustworthy Agencies

How to Spot a Disreputable Surrogacy Agency

1. They Aren’t Upfront

Agencies that are unwilling to provide consistent, detailed cost breakdowns or avoid answering straightforward questions may be obscuring omissions in service or legal safeguards—transparency in pricing and process is a recognized standard among accredited providers.

2. No Lawyers on Staff or Available

Legal expertise is a cornerstone of any ethical surrogacy arrangement, and agencies that fail to provide access to qualified attorneys or lack knowledge of jurisdiction-specific regulations put intended parents at risk of legal complications that can delay or undermine parentage rights.

3. No Mental Health Screenings

Failing to conduct thorough psychological evaluations of surrogates can result in emotional instability or breakdowns during the process, potentially jeopardizing the well-being of all parties involved and the continuity of the surrogacy journey.

4. No Proof of Success

Agencies that cannot provide verified client testimonials, documented success rates, or access to references may lack a proven track record—transparency in client outcomes is a fundamental indicator of reliability and professionalism in surrogacy services.

The Hidden Costs of Budget Surrogacy

While low-cost surrogacy agencies may seem appealing at first glance, they often omit essential services such as legal protections, comprehensive surrogate screening, and proper medical oversight—factors that significantly increase the likelihood of costly delays, emotional setbacks, and legal complications later in the process.

Bad Matches

Rushing to pair you with a surrogate without making sure it’s a good fit can lead to:

Communication breakdowns due to incompatible expectations or lack of shared values can disrupt the surrogate-intended parent relationship and are commonly cited as causes of failed matches.
Personality mismatches stemming from a lack of compatibility screening can strain the surrogate-intended parent relationship, disrupt communication, and increase the likelihood of a failed match.
Needing to reinitiate the surrogate matching process can lead to significant delays and added expenses, as agencies must rematch candidates, repeat screenings, and reestablish trust—each step requiring time, emotional investment, and financial resources.

Such mismatches often require restarting the process entirely, leading to significant financial loss, emotional fatigue, and delays in building the family.

Failed Medical Procedures

Without proper screening or good medical partners, there’s a higher chance of:

Failed embryo transfers, which occur when the embryo does not successfully implant in the uterus, often resulting from poor embryo quality, inadequate uterine receptivity, or clinical mismanagement.
Higher treatment costs resulting from failed transfers often include additional IVF cycles, repeated embryo thawing or preparation procedures, and extended use of fertility medications.
Emotional distress and disappointment are common consequences when transfers fail due to inadequate medical protocols or insufficient surrogate preparation.

Legal Fights

If contracts aren’t clear or legal steps are skipped, you might face:

Disputes over parental rights can emerge when legal parentage is not clearly established through proper pre-birth or post-birth orders, exposing intended parents to challenges from third parties or even the surrogate.
Delays in acquiring your child’s legal documents (such as birth certificates, parentage declarations, or passports) can arise when agencies lack the legal expertise to navigate jurisdiction-specific requirements, leading to travel restrictions, hospital discharge issues, or difficulties in asserting parental rights.
Additional legal fees may include the cost of emergency court filings, extended legal counsel for cross-jurisdictional parentage cases, or remediation of poorly written contracts.

Surprise Medical Bills

If the agency doesn’t include insurance or doesn’t plan for emergencies, you may end up paying for:

Difficult deliveries, which can involve unplanned cesarean sections, hemorrhaging, or labor complications that require intensive medical intervention and prolonged hospital stays—making it crucial for surrogacy agencies to work with accredited medical facilities and ensure comprehensive insurance coverage.
NICU (newborn intensive care) stays, which are often required for premature or medically complex births, can result in tens of thousands of dollars in unplanned costs if not covered by a comprehensive surrogacy insurance plan—highlighting the importance of ensuring your agency includes neonatal coverage in its financial and medical strategy.
Postpartum recovery support for surrogates may involve physical aftercare, mental health counseling, and follow-up medical visits—critical services that reputable agencies provide to ensure the surrogate’s well-being and to uphold ethical standards.

Paying Again for a New Surrogate

This is one of the most common and most costly pitfalls of working with a budget agency – In fact, this one cost can often make these “budget” agencies just as expensive as fully supportive, quality agencies.

When a surrogate exits the process unexpectedly, fails one of the screening tests, or in the worst case scenario, miscarries, and the agency does not have a clearly defined replacement policy or refund guarantee, intended parents may be forced to repeat matching fees, legal reviews, and medical screenings.

The financial and emotional toll of reinitiating the surrogacy process—often exceeding tens of thousands of dollars and causing months of delay—can be avoided by working with agencies that include clear, written guarantees for surrogate withdrawal, including contingency plans and refund structures to protect intended parents.

Why Proper Screening Matters

Health History

A surrogate’s full medical background helps reduce risks. Without this:

Pregnancies involving poorly screened surrogates are at a higher risk for complications such as gestational hypertension, placental abnormalities, or adverse birth outcomes.
Embryo implantation failure can result from poor endometrial receptivity, chromosomal abnormalities in the embryo, or suboptimal timing of the transfer—factors that must be mitigated through evidence-based protocols and individualized treatment planning. Without proper screening, most surrogates will be unaware they have these problems at all, and the medical team will not have the opportunity to work around them.
Inadequate medical screening and oversight increase the risk of complications such as gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, preterm birth, or fetal growth restriction, all of which can endanger the health and safety of both the surrogate and the baby.

Mental Readiness

Surrogacy can be emotional and stressful. A surrogate needs to:

Understand the journey fully: Surrogates must give informed consent with a clear understanding of the physical, emotional, legal, and time-related responsibilities involved—key elements that agencies are ethically obligated to communicate thoroughly to ensure full commitment and avoid misunderstandings.
Be emotionally strong: Surrogates must demonstrate emotional resilience, as unmanaged stress has been linked to increased risks of preterm labor, low birth weight, and complications during pregnancy—making psychological stability a key criterion in ASRM screening recommendations.
Know how to work with intended parents: Establishing clear expectations and consistent communication early on is crucial, as collaborative agreements and aligned goals help prevent misunderstandings and foster a strong, trusting relationship throughout the surrogacy process.

Background Checks

Reputable surrogacy agencies conduct thorough background checks that include screening for criminal history, financial instability, and home environment safety—key indicators of a surrogate’s ability to provide a secure and stress-minimized gestational period, which directly impacts the health of the surrogate and fetus.

What to Ask Before Choosing a Surrogacy Agency

To evaluate whether a surrogacy agency is reputable and prepared to support your journey, ask specific, evidence-based questions that reveal their legal structure, medical protocols, surrogate screening standards, and financial safeguards.

Do you offer legal help from a surrogacy attorney?
How do you screen surrogates (health, emotional state, legal readiness)?
Is insurance included? Who handles it?
Can I speak with families you’ve helped before?
What if the surrogate quits or something goes wrong?
Do you use a third-party to hold and manage money?
Are you experienced with surrogacy in my state or country?
Will I get support during the whole process?

These questions can help you find a trustworthy agency and avoid trouble later.

Financing Surrogacy

Surrogacy costs a lot, but there are safe ways to manage it. Be careful of agencies that say they can do it for way less. They may be hiding important details.

Grants

Several nonprofit organizations offer fertility grants that can help offset the high cost of surrogacy, though they typically involve a detailed application process, strict eligibility requirements, and limited funding rounds—making early preparation and multiple submissions advisable for prospective recipients (Resolve, 2023; Baby Quest Foundation, 2023).

Fertility Loans

Specialized fertility loans are available from lenders that understand the high costs of IVF and surrogacy, offering financing options with competitive interest rates, extended repayment terms, and pre-qualification tools that help families evaluate affordability without impacting credit scores.

Using Retirement Funds

Some intended parents finance their journey by borrowing from or withdrawing early from a 401(k), though this approach may involve tax penalties, loan repayment obligations, or reduced retirement savings—making it essential to consult a licensed financial advisor familiar with fertility financing before pursuing this option.

Health Savings Accounts (HSAs)

You may be able to use HSA funds for medical parts of surrogacy like:

Fertility treatments
Lab tests
Doctor visits and medicine

Read our guide to financing surrogacy safely for more options.

Avoid Costly Mistakes: Let Us Help You Choose the Right Surrogacy Agency

Choosing the wrong agency can lead to big emotional and financial setbacks. Don’t risk your future just to save a little money. You deserve a trusted partner who will keep you safe, support your surrogate, and make your journey smooth.

We can connect you with agencies that are fully checked, legally solid, and known for their success.