Bringing your baby home is one of the most exciting parts about becoming a new parent. But figuring out your insurance details? Not so much.

While insurance is often a confusing process, surrogacy insurance is even trickier — especially if you’re an international intended parent. Every insurance company has their own polices about how they will cover a surrogate pregnancy, and every situation is different, which makes it hard to figure out what you need for your gestational surrogacy.

If you’re like most families, then you’ve probably got a lot of questions. We plan to answer them in this guide to newborn insurance for international intended parents and surrogacy insurance for domestic parents. However, please speak with your insurance provider for the most accurate and personal advice.

Do Domestic Intended Parents Need to Purchase Newborn Insurance?

This is often the first question intended parents ask about their insurance when they live in the United States. If you have to purchase an extra policy for your gestational surrogate, then it’s natural to wonder if you need to purchase newborn insurance for your baby, as well.

The good news is that, as a domestic intended parent pursuing surrogacy in the United States, you don’t need to worry about this extra step. The insurance you already have will cover your baby at birth, so you shouldn’t have to look elsewhere for your baby’s coverage.

The process of adding your child to your insurance may vary from provider to provider. We encourage you to reach out to your provider early on to ensure your child is adequately covered after they are born.

As a domestic intended parent, you may only have to worry about buying an extra policy for your gestational surrogate, if necessary. Your gestational carrier will usually have her own insurance separate from yours, and she may be able to get some coverage for her medical expenses. In the event that she can’t, surrogacy insurance is a separate policy intended to cover her medical costs.

Keep in mind that any out-of-pocket medical costs incurred will be your responsibility as the intended parent. Your gestational surrogate will never be financially responsible for any medical costs for your newborn baby.

Your surrogacy specialist will go over the ins and outs of your policy in more detail before you begin. Before you buy separate surrogacy insurance, reach out to your specialist first. They will assess your own insurance coverage and inform you of any additional required costs.

What About International Intended Parents?

Becoming an international intended parent is exciting, but figuring out insurance for another country can be confusing — especially in the United States.

Because international intended parents’ insurance won’t carry over to the United States, newborn insurance is typically purchased in these journeys. When you’re an international intended parent, it is your responsibility to ensure that your newborn has coverage in the U.S. from the moment of birth.

Newborn claims and expenses can be the most overwhelming part of the process for parents who do not have coverage in the United States. Insurance is already tricky enough for domestic parents, so you’re not alone if you’re confused.

After your child is born, you should be soaking up every minute with your little one — not on the phone dealing with hospitals and providers. Buying newborn insurance in advance takes some of the weight off your shoulders. Surrogacy is already expensive enough, so make sure that you have your insurance sorted out to save as much money as possible.

While American Surrogacy only works with domestic intended parents, there are many surrogacy agencies that work with international families. To learn more about newborn insurance for international surrogacy, please contact one of the following professionals.

• Circle Surrogacy
• ConceiveAbilities
• Simple Surrogacy

Where Can I Find Newborn Insurance as an International Intended Parent?

When you travel to the United States, there are several options for purchasing newborn insurance before your baby is born. Because there are many different types, research your options to figure out which one is right for you. Below are a few that you might consider:

• Expat insurance: If you’re already a U.S. citizen and living abroad, there are options that will cover you and your newborn when you return to the United States.
• Travel insurance: If you’re traveling in the U.S., consider travel insurance for you and your baby. Some companies, like Allianz, require both parents be insured., require both parents be insured.
• Newborn resource plan: If you’re only planning on insuring your newborn, you can use a newborn resource plan, such as the International Newborn Care Card. Be aware, however, that this is technically not insurance. This card only allows for significant discounts on any claims. There is no cap on the financial responsibility of the parent, and it is your responsibility to pay for any additional costs. This card also excludes any and all claims related to your surrogate. Another option for newborn insurance is a discounted hospital cash payment. An insurance broker can help you determine which option is less expensive.

It is important that you speak with an insurance representative to understand the specifics of each plan and to decide what is best for you.

Get the Protection You Need for Your Surrogacy Journey

We know that insurance can be confusing while you’re in another country or in the United States. But making sure that you have the right protection is imperative to making sure that your baby and your surrogate are covered during this journey. The last thing that you want to do is pay more than you have to.

You may gain valuable insights on this process and other aspects of the surrogacy process from other intended parents and parents through surrogacy. You can connect with others going through the process on our social media sites.

If you have any questions at all about insurance as a domestic intended parent, please don’t hesitate to reach out to one of your surrogacy specialists, your attorney or an insurance representative. They want to help you save as much as you can during this journey so that you can put it toward what’s important: your new family.

The surrogacy process can sometimes feel like an out-of-body experience for intended parents. You walk through all the steps of a pregnancy, witness the ups and downs of the trimesters, follow along with prenatal care, prepare for delivery and everything else — except it’s not your body.

Yet, intended parents can still feel the emotions as if it is their pregnancy, or something close to it. Along with this, there’s a confusing mix of emotions that are distinct to this unique position as an intended parent in the surrogacy process.

Perhaps no step of the journey will illustrate this emotional cocktail better than the ultrasound appointments. A big moment in any pregnancy and in your surrogacy process, these appointments can usher in a confusing wave of emotions.

One thing that may be extremely useful to intended parents is connecting to others who have gone through a similar situation. You can connect directly to others who became parents through surrogacy through our online community.

If you are considering surrogacy as an intended parent or already part of the process, here’s what you need to know about ultrasound appointments, as well as a few tips for enjoying this beautiful part of your journey.

Preparing for Ultrasound Appointments

There are plenty of steps in the process before you get to the ultrasound — too many to cover in-depth here. Instead, we’ll skip to the beginning of the medical process.

As an intended parent, you’ll work together with the surrogate (according to the parameters in your surrogacy contract) to pick a medical provider for these steps of the process.

The surrogate will go through intensive screening, a mock cycle, preparation for the embryonic transfer, the embryonic transfer and a confirmation of pregnancy before the six-week ultrasound. If that sounds like a lot, well, it is! Don’t worry; your surrogacy specialist will be working as hard as possible to make sure everything goes according to plan.

Once the pregnancy is confirmed, it’ll be time to schedule the six-week ultrasound with the fertility clinic. Depending on your fertility clinic, there may be a second ultrasound appointment at 12 weeks before prenatal care fully transfers to the OBGYN. Once in the care of the OBGYN, there will be several more ultrasound appointments.

It will be up to you how many of the ultrasound appointments to attend. If your surrogate lives close by, this will be easier to plan. If you have to travel, then you will need to decide what the cost and time is worth.

What to Expect During Ultrasound Appointments

The practical preparation for ultrasound appointments is relatively straightforward. The emotional work you’ll need to do before, during and after can be more challenging.

When you’re an intended parent, these are some of the strong emotions you should expect to feel when you’re present at ultrasound appointments:

Joy

That’s your child! Take this moment in. You’re getting a glimpse at the future of your family thanks to the wonders of modern medical technology. It’s a beautiful sight.

Jealousy

That’s quite a swing, isn’t it? We hate the feeling of jealousy. It makes us uncomfortable. But it’s actually a fairly common emotion for intended parents who, in many cases, spent years dreaming of this moment for themselves. Be aware that this feeling may come on unexpectedly and with force during the ultrasound appointments.

Confusion

Medical professionals are not always sure how to address a room with both the surrogate and intended parents present. Who to look at and speak to can be confusing, and it can create a tense dynamic. The doctor may address the surrogate when you feel they should be addressing you, or vice versa.

Ways to Get the Most Out of Your Ultrasound Appointments

These emotions and more are common. Not only that — they are normal and should be expected. Nothing you feel during the ultrasound appointments is inherently bad. The good or bad of the situation depends on your response.

It won’t be easy to process all of that on the fly. Here are a few things you can do to prepare yourself and get the most out of the ultrasound appointments:

Stay in close contact with your surrogacy specialist.

Your specialist is there to guide you through the process. From practical help preparing for appointments to emotional counseling during difficult times, call your specialist.

Have honest conversations with your partner (if applicable).

If you have a spouse or partner, are you on the same page with them? Unity and an understanding of the other’s mental state make it easier to support each other. Don’t hide some of the more uncomfortable emotions from your partner. Speak openly and often about how you’re feeling, especially before and after ultrasound appointments.

Prepare for uncomfortable feelings.

You are, in a sense, already doing this. By reading this article, you’re becoming aware of some of the challenging things to expect at ultrasound appointments. That means you can be prepared rather than caught off guard. Develop plans for how you’ll respond to feeling of sadness or jealousy to minimize the impact those emotions have on your experience.

Find ways to focus on the good feelings.

This is not to say that you should ignore or deny the more frustrating emotions. Instead, find ways to focus on the good ones that are also present in the moment.

Some people find practices like daily journaling or mindfulness practices helpful, or you can find breathing exercises to bring your emotions back under control in the moment. Anything that helps you is a good practice to develop.

Speak With Your Specialist

Your surrogacy specialist should be your most trusted resource during your process, and a complex step like the ultrasound appointments is a perfect example of why. Our specialists have experience guiding other intended parents through these challenging emotions, and they can help you, too.

Feeling nervous about your ultrasound appointments as an intended parent? Call your specialist today. Still considering surrogacy as a family-building option? Contact us online now to learn more, or call 1-800-875-BABY(2229).

Babies don’t come on a schedule. As much as we would all like our babies to be healthy, full-term infants, this isn’t always the case. Premature labor and delivery are always scary situations – but it’s even more so when you add in the complicated details of surrogacy.

Every year, about 15 million babies are born premature around the world. And, because many surrogacy journeys involve twins, the rate can be high in gestational surrogacy. While your surrogate and her doctor will do all they can to reduce the likelihood of a premature birth, it will still be a possibility.

If your baby is born premature and ends up in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), you probably won’t know what to expect. Rest assured that your specialist will support you through this step, although most of the information will come from your child’s doctors.

Here are just a few things you might expect when your baby goes into the NICU after birth via surrogacy.

1. You’ll need to stay in the surrogate’s state a lot longer.

Most surrogacies take place across state borders. So, if your surrogate went into labor early, you were probably already trying to get to her quickly, with little time to prepare. Now that you’re here and your child is in the NICU, you will likely face a long stay in her state with no plan.

How long you stay in a surrogate’s state will depend on how long your child remains in the NICU. You’ll need to speak with your child’s doctor for guidance. Use whatever information you have to create a plan with your spouse or support person during this time.

Here are a few tips:

• If you have older children, consider sending one spouse home to care for them and set up long-term care with a friend or relative.
• Look at long-term, furnished apartment rentals to give yourself a “home base” during this uncertain time.
• Look at your finances and make a budget for this stay. Your hospital costs will likely balloon during your child’s stint in the NICU, so save where you can. Consider reaching out to a financial advisor to stay one step ahead.
• Ask your surrogate for suggestions on where to eat and stay in the area (more on that below).

2. Your child won’t look like you expect.

All intended parents dream of the time they first meet their children. None of those visions involve the scary sights associated with the NICU.

Your child will likely look impossibly small and fragile among all the wires and monitors required in the NICU. It’s a shock for any parent, but preparing yourself ahead of time can minimize those staggering emotions and help you jump right in to supporting your child. Remember that this is normal for a child in the NICU, although it may not be a “normal” sight for you.

Your child may not look how you imagined, but they are still your child – and they still deserve bravery and strength from their parents.

3. There will be strict NICU rules.

Babies in the NICU are dealing with a variety of health concerns, so a safe, sterile environment is critical in keeping them safe. Hospitals have strict policies on NICU visitation, and your child’s doctor will give you the information you need.

Visiting hours may be shortened, and hospitals may prohibit extended family members from visiting. You may be required to wear a hospital gown, mask or gloves when in the NICU, and you will be required to wash your hands diligently and frequently.

Depending on your child’s health, you may or may not be able to hold them right away. Even if you can’t hold your child, you may still be able to hold your baby’s hand, stroke their head and talk to them. Defer to your doctor’s advice about what is best for your child at this time, and be patient. Every recommendation from the hospital is designed to give your child the best start at life possible.

4. Your surrogate may be a greater support than you think.

Your surrogacy partnership doesn’t end after your baby is born. Most intended parents and surrogates create a genuine friendship during pregnancy, and that relationship often continues after birth, too.

Your surrogate will be just as worried about your baby as you, and she may even feel guilty that she couldn’t carry your child to term like she expected. Remind her that it’s not her fault and, if you feel comfortable, invite her to spend time with the baby in the NICU. This may help her emotional and physical recovery after birth.

Don’t forget that you are on the surrogate’s home turf. She will likely have many suggestions for places to eat and places to stay in the area, and she may even offer to go grocery shopping or run other errands for you during your NICU stay. Don’t be afraid to accept the support she gives; she will be trying to help however she can.

As always, if you ever have questions about your relationship with your surrogate, your specialist is only a phone call away.

5. You’ll need to look out for yourself, too.

When your baby is admitted into the NICU, it’s tempting to focus all of your energy on them. You’ll likely spend all the time you can by their side, going through the same motions of feeding, rocking, holding and just being there. But, as any caregiver will tell you, sitting by a hospital bed for 12 hours straight every day will get exhausting – and it will wear you down.

As tough as it can be, remember your own health during this time. Make sure you’re getting the rest you need, and don’t forget to keep a healthy intake of food and drink, even when you don’t feel like it. During a NICU stay, you will be grieving your original plans for bringing your child home, and that will impact your mental health. Lean on your partner, if you have one, and make a plan, so each of you can get a break. It can be hard to step away from your little one’s bedside, but remember that the doctors and nurses in the NICU are taking good care of your baby.

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As you navigate the NICU stay, remember that your specialist at American Surrogacy will always be there for you. They will be just as invested as you in your child’s health, so don’t be afraid to check in with updates and for support. We know how tough this time will be, which is why we will do our best to coordinate with your attorney and other surrogacy professionals and let you focus on your child’s health.

If you’ve been through the situations described here, you can help other parents like you feel less alone. Share your story with us on Instagram to help parents just like you stay positive and hopeful.