Moving on from infertility to another family-building option can feel hard at first. But, you should know that if you decide you want to still become a parent after infertility, surrogacy and adoption are options for you.
Contact a surrogacy professional today if you know that surrogacy is the path to parenthood you’d like to take.
If you’re still trying to decide which parenthood journey is right for your family, this guide can help.
Continue reading to discover the pros and cons of surrogacy vs. adoption.
Surrogacy vs. Adoption
Choosing surrogacy to grow your family is exciting!
All surrogacies include a surrogate (known as a gestational carrier) and intended parents. Most surrogacies also involve a surrogacy agency. Although you could choose to pursue surrogacy on your own (independent surrogacy), the surrogacy journey is much smoother when working with a professional.
Other Surrogacy Professionals
You’ll also work with a handful of other surrogacy experts during your surrogacy journey. The following are a few of the skilled people you’ll work with:
- Surrogacy professional: A surrogacy professional provides practical and emotional support throughout your surrogacy journey.
- Fertility clinic: The fertility clinic will handle all fertility medications and procedures (like in vitro fertilization).
- Donor agencies: Surrogacy agencies often have relationships with donor clinics and can provide referrals.
- Family attorney: Your attorney will represent you and your partner’s rights during the surrogacy.
- Infertility counselor: Your surrogacy professional can provide infertility counselor references to help you work through any lingering infertility grief.
Surrogacy Basics
Most intended parents pay anywhere from $150,000 to $250,000 for their surrogacy journey when they work with a surrogacy agency. These fees will pay for the following surrogacy steps:
- Getting paired with a surrogacy professional
- Fulfilling all surrogacy screenings with the support of your surrogacy professional
- Matching with a pre-screened surrogate who is ready to start the surrogacy journey
- Working with a surrogacy attorney to draft your surrogacy contract
- Undergoing the medical surrogacy process (includes egg retrieval/donor services, IVF, fertility medications, etc.)
- Confirm a pregnancy and watch your baby grow
- Take your child home after the surrogate gives birth
Adoption vs. Surrogacy
Adoption is an equally exciting but very different parenthood journey.
All adoption journeys include hopeful parents, a birth mother, and, most often, an adoption agency.
Choosing Which Adoption Agency to Work With
Hopeful parents can choose to work with two different types of adoption agencies. These include:
- Local adoption agencies: These agencies are smaller. You typically can meet with your adoption professional in person. But, these agencies often have fewer resources and don’t work with as many birth mothers as national adoption agencies.
- National adoption agencies: These larger agencies can work with people across state lines. Although you may not get to meet with your professional in person, you will have access to other benefits, like 24/7 support, family profile creation and marketing efforts, and financial protection.
Common Adoption Steps
Hopeful parents will go through the following steps on their adoption journey.
- Decide to pursue adoption and start to work with an adoption agency and adoption professional
- Choose the type of adoption that’s right for your (open adoption, semi-open adoption, and closed adoption)
- Connect with a prospective birth mother
- Go through pre- and post-placement meetings and agreements
- Enjoy parenthood
Benefits of Surrogacy vs. Adoption
When considering surrogacy vs. adoption pros and cons, it’s important to remember that neither option is better than the other; they are just different. You and your partner are the only people who can determine which family-building option is right for you.
- When you choose gestational surrogacy vs. adoption, you have the opportunity to have a biological child.
- If you work with the right surrogacy agency, you could match with a surrogate quickly, which means you’ll hold your baby in your arms faster. For example, our market research shows that American Surrogacy’s average intended parent wait time from activation to match is 30 to 90 days.
- You get the opportunity to watch your baby grow and enjoy the surrogate’s pregnancy.
- Surrogacy gives you the chance to raise your child from birth.
- You get to work with a woman who already has a family and has experienced pregnancy before.
Benefits of Adoption vs. Surrogacy
Depending on your needs, adoption vs. surrogacy may appeal to your family. The following are some common adoption benefits:
- When you choose adoption vs. surrogacy, you don’t need to undergo any medical procedures, and you don’t need to work with gamete donors.
- Adoption is less expensive than surrogacy. Generally, adoption costs $50,000 to $75,000 and surrogacy costs $150,000 to $250,000.
- When you choose adoption, you also enrich the life of a birth mother by providing her with a future filled with opportunities.
Choosing the Path to Parenthood That’s Right for You
All hopeful parents will need to consider the benefits of surrogacy vs. adoption before deciding which family-building option is right for their families.
If you’ve already considered adoption vs. surrogacy and are ready to start your surrogacy journey, click here to connect with a surrogacy professional.
