Surrogacy What You Should Know · Cost Containment • Costs can typically increase 50% over...

AU Seminars November 2018

Surrogacy What You Should Know

Sam EveringhamDirector

Families Through Surrogacy


Overview

• Key Factors for Getting Started

• Options available

• Costs

• Timelines

• Typical Problems

• Legal & Parentage Issues (OS Surrogacy)

• Customised Support


Factors Needed

• Goodwill

• Professional expertise

• Support

• Experienced provider

• Good planning

• Luck


Key Decisions for Getting Started

Timing – when do you want to be a parent?

What size family do you want?

Who will be a genetic parent?

What relationship do you want with your surrogate?

What is your budget?


Which Countries Allow

USA, Canada,

Ukraine, Greece,

Georgia, Russia,

Brazil

Australia, Israel, South

Africa, New Zealand,

Netherlands, India,

Thailand, UK, Czech

Republic

For citizens For citizens + foreigners

(legal)

Kenya, Mexico,

Albania, Laos

For foreigners (no laws)


Legal Status & Who is Eligible

Country General Eligibility

USA Some states allow gay couples, singles, and heterosexuals of

any age

Low regulation

Ukraine Heterosexual married couples who meet specific medical

criteria

High regulation

Canada allow gay couples, singles, and heterosexuals

combined age of intended parents must be <110

Russia Heterosexual couples and singles


Other Countries

Georgia Heterosexual couples who meet general medical criteria

Greece Heterosexual couples and single females


$24,500$16,000 $11,000 $15,000

$48,740

$20,000$20,000

$20,000

$12,500

$10,000

$12,000$12,000

$15,000 $2,600

$46,750

$15,000

$18,000

$5,600

$7,000

$20,000

$13,000

$8,300

$4,000

$2,000

$8,000$350

$4,000

$5,500

$5,500$10,000 $5,500

$4,600

$3,000

$13,000

$12,000$17,000

$3,300$8,600

$0

$20,000

$40,000

$60,000

$80,000

$100,000

$120,000

$140,000

$160,000

$180,000

USA Russia Canada Australia Ukraine

Au

st D

olla

rs

Country Engaged In

Agency fee

IVF costs

Legal costs

Surrogatecompensation

Surro expenses

Screening/Counselling

Hospital & post-birthcosts

Surrogate & newborninsurance

Egg Donor costs

Minimum Costs By Country


Cost Containment

• Costs can typically increase 50% over ‘baseline’ costs

• failed transfers

• Early miscarriages

• Switching from own to donor eggs

• Pregnancy complications

• Surrogate needing additional time off work

Higher Cost ‘Guarantee’ programs provide peace-of-mind & more

popular


Minimum Timelines - US

Waiting for a Surrogate Pregnancy, Parental Rights LegalSurrogate Match,

Legal, Medical

About 18 Months

6 months 9 months3 months

Surr

oga

teD

on

or

Selecting a Donor, Creating Embryos


Minimum Timelines – Ukraine/Russia

Wait for Surrogate

Pregnancy Legal, Medical

15+ Months

1 mth 9 months2 months

Surr

oga

teD

on

or

Selecting a Donor, Creating Embryos

1.5 months

Country exit

1 mth

Paper

work


Minimum Timelines - Canada

Surrogate queque Pregnancy, Parental Rights LegalSurrogate medicals, transfers and new

attempts

19 - 27 Months

4 months 9 months2 - 8 months

Find Donor, Creae Embryos

IVF Physician, Surrogacy Agency

Surrogate’s OB/GYN

4-6 months

Donor Agency, IVF Physician

Surrogacy Agency


PROBLEMS


Less Options

• Higher demand for surrogates in fewer countries

• Greater pressure on US, Canada & Ukraine surrogacy

• Increasing wait times

• Poorer surrogate screening -> higher drop out, lower success


Australian Surrogates Not Supported

• Poorly screened

• No effective matching

• Poor emotional support

• Inadequate support during pregnancy attempts and pregnancy

Surrogacy Australia Support Service to address this


Poorer Success with Altruistic

• Parents using altruistic often report

• Longer wait times to match with a surrogate (12- 18 mths)

• Surrogates dropping out

• Unsuccessful transfers / poor success rates

• spiralling timelines, costs & stress as surrogates and donors are changed

after repeated failure


Twin Pregnancies A High Risk Scenario

• Increasingly surrogates will not accept double embryo transfer, as

its harder on their bodies

• Twin pregnancies come with far higher medical risks

• US & Canada don’t provide neonate insurance for twins


LEGAL & PARENTAGE ISSUES

FOR OS SURROGACY


Legal Issues

• International surrogacy banned under NSW Law but not Commonwealth

law

• Despite this many engage OS, given

• Poor access to Australian surrogacy

• citizenship & passports administered at a Commonwealth level

• All the normal rights (Medicare, Centrelink payments, schooling)

remain available regardless of what state you live in, given Aust

citizenship is awarded

• No NSW prosecutions have ever been made


Parentage Following OS Surrogacy

• In 2017, the Family Court held that the parentage of children born of overseas

surrogacy cannot be resolved within the present Family Law Act

• Fortuitously, there is a review of the Act is currently in process

• Surrogacy Australia & other groups have made a strong submission arguing

for this situation to be remedied, on ‘rights of the child’ grounds

Legal Parentage is currently not available to those engaging in OS

surrogacy


What Does This Mean?

• Under Australian law, the overseas surrogate (and her partner) are the parents

• Under US/ Canadian/ Ukraine/ Russian law, you are the parents

• Under Australian passports law,

• the surrogate needs to sign a consent form for each renewal (5 yearly) until

your child is 18


How can I protect myself?

• Ensure you have wills which specify your beneficiaries by name, as your

children are not presumed beneficiaries

• If you don’t want to bother your surrogate for Passport renewal, you can either

• Complete the B9 form

• Ensure your court order permits the issue of a passport or permits

international travel

Cant I just pretend I carried the child myself?

• The Australian government requires birth records from the delivery hospital

before they will issue citizenship

• protects against child trafficking


OUTCOMES FOR CHILDREN


Surrogacy Outcomes for Children

Academic research shows

• lack of a genetic or gestational link between parent and child has no negative effect on

parent/child relationships or psychological well-being of mother, father or children1

• no major psychological differences between 10 yr olds born via surrogacy vs children born via

other ART or natural conception2

1 Golombok et al Human Reproduction 21, (7) pp. 1918–1924, 2006

2 Soderstrom-Anttila Surrogacy: outcomes for surrogate mothers, children and the resulting families—a systematic review

Human Reproduction Update, 22, (2) pp. 260–276, 2016


Surrogacy Outcomes for Children

Children in gay father families1 show

• low levels of behavioral and emotional problems

• significantly lower levels of internalizing problems than children in lesbian mother families

1 Golombok et al Child Development, 2017 Parenting and the Adjustment of Children Born to Gay Fathers Through

Surrogacy


FTS Customised Support

Help you decide on a country

More hand-holding/concierge style service

Reliable providers to meet your budget

Wide range of options

One hour or complete journey support

Surrogacy What You Should Know · Cost Containment • Costs can typically increase 50% over...

Documents

Transcript of Surrogacy What You Should Know · Cost Containment • Costs can typically increase 50% over...