Compensation & Benefits

We're talking compensation. Compensation is a really important part of surrogacy, so I want you to understand how it works. It's basically broken into three parts.

Base Compensation

The first is base compensation. This one's easy; it's a number. If you're a first-time surrogate, it's $60,000. If you're a second-time surrogate, it's usually between $75,000 and $90,000. For a third journey or more, it's $90,000 and up.

Base compensation starts when we confirm a fetal heartbeat. It's broken up into eight months: one-eighth of your total base compensation is paid that day, then on the first of the next month, and the first of the month after that.

For example, just for ease of math, if your base compensation is $80,000, you'll get $10,000 on the first of the month. The next month you'll get $10,000, and the month after that, $10,000. That continues through the pregnancy, until by the end you'll have been paid your full $80,000. I hope that makes sense. Pretty easy.

Bonuses

Next are bonuses. We pay bonuses in a couple of ways, at certain stages and events:

- $4,000 at legal signing - $500 when you start medications - $1,500 on the day of transfer

Those come before base compensation starts.

Monthly allowance. You also get a monthly allowance. This is just spending money: $300 a month, to put gas in your car to get to appointments, or to pick up a coffee. It's non-reimbursable, meaning I don't need any receipts. You just get the money. It starts after you sign your legal agreement and goes all the way through, no matter what, on top of your base compensation.

Maternity clothing. Things happen during pregnancy, and we want you to be compensated for them. We know your belly's getting bigger and you need maternity clothes. No problem. You'll get a one-time payment of $1,000 as a maternity clothing allowance.

Housekeeping. If you need help with housekeeping and want to hire a housekeeper to come every couple of weeks while you're pregnant, we get it. You get $400 a month for that. Just let us know you need it, and we'll help you throughout that time.

What-ifs

Then there are what-if payments: "What if this happens in my journey? How am I paid?"

- Mock cycle: $500. Before a transfer, the doctor may want to see whether the medication will work for you. It doesn't always work the way it should, or your body may not react well to certain medications. A mock cycle is a pretend transfer. We're not actually transferring an embryo; we're just doing the medication cycle to make sure your body responds well. - Dropped cycle: $500. What if your lining doesn't cooperate? We're planning on the transfer, but the lining isn't receptive, so it doesn't happen. That's a dropped cycle. It's not a mock cycle, which is a practice run. This is: we were going to do it, and it dropped. - Multiple pregnancy: $15,000. We always transfer only one embryo, but if the embryo splits and you're carrying twins, you'll receive a multiple pregnancy fee of $15,000 on top of your base compensation. It begins at 12 weeks and is spread out over the rest of the pregnancy. It's very, very uncommon, but there it is. - Wellness and fourth trimester care: up to $4,000. If you're interested in doula services, pelvic floor therapy, nutritional coaching, a chiropractor, prenatal massage, acupuncture and so on, you can use up to $4,000 in care at any time. Just let us know, send us the receipt when you pay, and we'll reimburse you. - Invasive procedures and inconvenience fees. There's a whole list I won't go through, for things like a D&C, an ectopic pregnancy or an amnio. They're really, really uncommon, and they're all listed in your surrogate benefits package.

Life And Health Insurance

We're the only agency that covers all of our surrogates with $1 million in life insurance. You choose the beneficiary of that policy: your partner, your kids, your spouse.

We also handle health insurance. If you don't have health insurance that will cover a surrogate pregnancy, including your maternity care and delivery, we'll get that for you. It's not your responsibility to pay for it, and it never will be. That's the intended parents' responsibility, but we'll walk through it with you and make sure you have coverage.

Everything Else

So we have base compensation, the bonus structure and the what-ifs. Then there's a whole other set of benefits that don't fit into any of those categories, so let's talk through those.

When you travel for your medical screening or your transfer, we pay for all of it. We don't make you come out of pocket for anything that's a big expense, and if you pay for something, you'll be reimbursed. If you're driving to a medical screening and grab lunch, we'll reimburse you. You're never out of pocket.

Long-distance travel. When you travel, you'll need meals, a hotel and a flight. We pay for your flight, get you set up and put you in the hotel, and you're reimbursed for meals, Starbucks and whatever else you need. You can bring someone with you, and their hotel is covered too. If you ever need to drive more than 50 miles, you get mileage for your vehicle to cover gas.

Child care. While you're traveling, we reimburse $150 a day, up to $500, for child care, because we want your kids to be taken care of.

Lost wages. If you have to miss work, you shouldn't have to use your sick time or PTO. You should be reimbursed for those hours or days. So if you work outside the home and miss half a day for an OB appointment, or two days for your medical screening, that time will be reimbursed. We also pay up to 21 days of lost wages for someone who helps you: the person traveling with you, whether that's your husband or wife, your best friend or your girlfriend, or anyone supporting you, including postpartum when you need a little extra help.

Bed rest. This is very uncommon. Bed rest means the doctor says you're in bed: you can't take your kids to school, make dinner, do laundry or pick up the house, and you can only get out of bed to go to the bathroom. If that happens, you'll get $150 a day and we'll get you child care. All of those expenses are paid, and you keep receiving your compensation.

Breast milk. If you decide to pump breast milk for the intended parents, because they want it and you want to do it, you'll get $450 a week, and we'll ship you a pump and all the supplies you need.

Mental health care: up to $3,000. If you're feeling a little down or overwhelmed, and it doesn't even have to be about pregnancy or surrogacy (maybe your husband is getting on your nerves and you want to talk to someone), no problem. You don't need our permission. You were already connected to a mental health provider at the beginning, and you can use them, or reach out to your case manager, who can find you another therapist depending on what you're looking for. That's up to $3,000, with no approval needed. It's there for you if you need it.

Paid to wait. In rare cases, the intended parents need to pause. Maybe they only had one embryo and need to create more. That usually takes one to three months, and the parents will pay you to wait, generally $1,500 to $2,000 a month, because we know your time is valuable.

Escrow

All of this money is held by an outside, third-party escrow company. It manages every request, whether from us, from you or from the parents, so it's all handled by someone else and we know the money is there. Roots requires the entire amount to be funded at the beginning, so we never run into a situation where the money runs out. Escrow is funded at your base compensation plus $75,000, and the parents put that in before we ever do a transfer.

That wraps up compensation. As a reminder, there's base compensation, the bonus structure, the what-ifs, and everything else that happens in the journey and how it's reimbursed. If you have any questions, please reach out.