looking into surrogacy, need info

[josssy]

Hello beauties! I need your advice. I had placental abruption in the past. Doctors had to remove fetus along with the uterus. We were ttc for 6 years before I’ve got pregnant. We had so much hope that finally we’ll become parents! We’ve lost our baby on 7th month of pregnancy. Also I’ve lost my fertility and there no chance for us to conceive any more. 2 years had already past but we didn’t recover from our loss yet. Is it even possible to forget such pain?

We are looking into surrogacy. To be honest, I’m not sure if we can think about it. I feel like I’m betraying my child… My husband says it will help us to keep living and stop our suffering. Maybe he’s right… I deepen myself into search and try not to think about my pain. I hope you’ll help me to clear surrogacy process.

I read many comments here. Some of you, girls, chose Europe, some of you chose America. I’m lost and I have no idea which of these variants will suit us. We are from Finland so there is no way for us to have this procedure here. I’m more into USA. Prices for surrogacy are very high there. But I think that’s not without purpose. This fact shows that there is high guarantee of success, am I right? They ask for such high price because they know what to do and how gain good result. We don’t have $150 000 to pay right away. I think we’ll have to take a loan. We have no one to borrow this money. I think this is not so great sacrifice for our goal, right? My husband says it’s better to go to Europe. Prices are much lower and services are the same. But I think if prices are small than possibility of procedure to be successful is small as well.

[jennyblack]

I’m so sorry about your loss. I’ve also lost my baby. I know exactly how it feels. It’s impossible to forget this, but surrogacy soothed our pain. I don’t regret I choose this option. You don’t betray your baby! Don’t think about this in such way. It’s not your fault you’ve lost your child. There are situations in life we can’t control. You should stop suffering! Your husband has a point here. This procedure and parenting will help you to soothe your pain, believe me. I was confused too. I didn’t know which country to choose. There are many clinics all over the world. Reviews and prices differ. That’s why it’s hard to choose. First of all I want to say that high price is not a guarantee of positive result as well as low price is not a guarantee of failure. Moreover, not a single clinic gives 100% guarantee that the procedure will be successful. Anyway, you should pay attention what rates of successful treatments do clinics have. There are many websites with lists of clinics where you can find this info.

Your husband is right about Europe. You should think about your future and future of your kid as well. You’ll have to spend so much money for a baby. It will be really hard for you to pay back debt at the same time. Here on this forum you can find names of all tested clinics and also their prices. You can ask girls everything you need. I’m sure they will help you! I will also be glad to help. Good luck! I hope you’ll find the best option for you)

[simonna]

Please can you let me know where to find the names /prices of the clinics you refer to. Is there a list? Or do you mean asking others for their views and experiences?

We are also looking into surrogacy. I would be interested to have this information. It's hard to make this search by your own. I'm confused with all reviews. Such list would be very helpful!

Thanks and good luck to everyone xx

[jennyblack]

I was just googling "list of clinics of reproductive medicine and their prices". There are many websites, where you can find not only prices and services, but also rates of successful treatments and reviews of their patients. For example this statistics which is based on personal opinion of people who communicate on forums http://kiev-hotel.net/medical-informati ... ction.html Very helpful thing I should say. Also after looking through such websites, I was choosing the most suitable clinics and making a list of them. Then I was looking for official websites of those clinics. There is much information which can help you to make a final choice. For example, you can find terms and conditions of contracts there. Also list of services, prices, photos, direct contacts, etc.

We contacted managers of those clinics and asked them questions. It's important to ask everything you want to know about procedure before you go there. Pay attention to their answers. They have to give you clear information to each of your questions.

Costs. USA has the highest price. We didn't have such amount of money. Their costs varies from $100 000 to $150 000. It is prohibitive price for us. Speaking about Greece, their prices are lower. Their costs varies from $60 000 to $80 000. I had great fear of scammers. There are a lot of fake agencies, who have only one aim – to pull out all your money. Everyone should be very careful in their search.

I was in search 24/7 during a couple of months. It was really hard to find a reliable clinic with affordable price. After some discussions with ladies on different forums we went to Ukraine. The clinic provided us with everything needed, so we felt absolutely comfortable in foreign country. The whole process was under their control. They found surrogate mother for us in 2,5 months. Our son was born in October 2015. We paid approximately €40 000 for everything. Though there were so many people and lines were very long, but I think the result worth it. If you have questions, please don't be shy to ask.

[simonna]

Thanks for the detailed and helpful information. I'm sure it will help a lot of people who are thinking about starting this process. I'm also in search now. I should say this process is not easy at all.

As for USA, healthcare costs an absolute fortune! Just some simple test will set you back $500. You get charged a premium on everything. The sad thing is that even with the high costs you are still living in a health care lottery. I have tons of comparisons with family members receiving the same procedures in different states and one was good, the other appalling. So going to the states will just be more money since your paying full price as to paying a somewhat covered amount by healthcare in Europe.

Josssy I'm so sorry for your fertility struggle. Your story is full of pain and despair. I hope you’r on the right way. USA offers probably the highest level of service but the price is also biting. Along with high costs, don’t forget their specific legal regulations. Surrogates are legal mothers of newborns. They have right to keep the baby after delivery if she changes her mind. I think you should go where you both feel comfortable. If you stay in Europe you'll definitely save some money.

[josssy]

I was just googling "list of clinics of reproductive medicine and their prices". There are many websites, where you can find not only prices and services, but also rates of successful treatments and reviews of their patients. For example this statistics which is based on personal opinion of people who communicate on forums http://kiev-hotel.net/medical-informati ... ction.html Very helpful thing I should say. Also after looking through such websites, I was choosing the most suitable clinics and making a list of them. Then I was looking for official websites of those clinics. There is much information which can help you to make a final choice. For example, you can find terms and conditions of contracts there. Also list of services, prices, photos, direct contacts, etc.

We contacted managers of those clinics and asked them questions. It's important to ask everything you want to know about procedure before you go there. Pay attention to their answers. They have to give you clear information to each of your questions.

Costs. USA has the highest price. We didn't have such amount of money. Their costs varies from $100 000 to $150 000. It is prohibitive price for us. Speaking about Greece, their prices are lower. Their costs varies from $60 000 to $80 000. I had great fear of scammers. There are a lot of fake agencies, who have only one aim – to pull out all your money. Everyone should be very careful in their search.

I was in search 24/7 during a couple of months. It was really hard to find a reliable clinic with affordable price. After some discussions with ladies on different forums we went to Ukraine. The clinic provided us with everything needed, so we felt absolutely comfortable in foreign country. The whole process was under their control. They found surrogate mother for us in 2,5 months. Our son was born in October 2015. We paid approximately €40 000 for everything. Though there were so many people and lines were very long, but I think the result worth it. If you have questions, please don't be shy to ask.

I'm so grateful for your response! Thank you for support. It was really hard for me to turn to this option after our loss. I needed to hear those words, some point of view from the other woman with same story... I hope surrogacy will help us to maintain our lives. Thanks for the tips. I'll definitely use them in my search. You helped a lot to clear surrogacy process for me. May I ask which clinic did you address?

[josssy]

Thanks for the detailed and helpful information. I'm sure it will help a lot of people who are thinking about starting this process. I'm also in search now. I should say this process is not easy at all.

As for USA, healthcare costs an absolute fortune! Just some simple test will set you back $500. You get charged a premium on everything. The sad thing is that even with the high costs you are still living in a health care lottery. I have tons of comparisons with family members receiving the same procedures in different states and one was good, the other appalling. So going to the states will just be more money since your paying full price as to paying a somewhat covered amount by healthcare in Europe.

Josssy I'm so sorry for your fertility struggle. Your story is full of pain and despair. I hope you’r on the right way. USA offers probably the highest level of service but the price is also biting. Along with high costs, don’t forget their specific legal regulations. Surrogates are legal mothers of newborns. They have right to keep the baby after delivery if she changes her mind. I think you should go where you both feel comfortable. If you stay in Europe you'll definitely save some money.

Thank you for your reply! These details made the process much clear for me. I never thought that prices could depend on this. I will look more into European clinics. Now I understand that high prices in USA don't give higher guarantees at all. You are absolutely right comparing the process to a lottery. It will be better to save money and don't take a loan. Thank you for these details! I will think more about options. Now I see it's better to look at services and rates but not at prices. I really appreciate your help! I didn't think I will get so many advices and support here!

[jennyblack]

Thanks for the detailed and helpful information. I'm sure it will help a lot of people who are thinking about starting this process. I'm also in search now. I should say this process is not easy at all.

You're welcome dear) I hope I helped you somehow. You are right, the searching process is really tough. I wish you good luck in it! And of course good luck with the procedure!

I'm so grateful for your response! Thank you for support. It was really hard for me to turn to this option after our loss. I needed to hear those words, some point of view from the other woman with same story... I hope surrogacy will help us to maintain our lives. Thanks for the tips. I'll definitely use them in my search. You helped a lot to clear surrogacy process for me. May I ask which clinic did you address?

The clinic is called biotexcom. By the way we didn't pay all sum at once! I completely agree with you. It's pretty risky to do so. The payment was divided into 5 rates. We paid €8000 during the first visit. Then we paid €7900 during our second visit. Third payment €8000 was paid on twelve weeks of the gestation of the surrogate mother. €8000 we paid after the birth of our son. And the last 5th payment €8000 we paid after receiving of the child’s birth certificate and passport for our son to leave the country.

I should say the clinic has pretty good service. We were met by taxi driver. Then taxi was carrying us across the city. We didn't have to find the clinic by ourselves! I'm sure we would be lost. Especially considering the fact that neither I nor my husband known the language. The taxi brought us to the clinic. It's a very modern building I must say. We also had a translator so there were no misunderstandings at all. That girl translated everything for us and also answered all our questions. We stayed at nice apartment with all needed facilities and even more) We had no problems with food supply or communication.

[Taz84]

Hello Jossy, I know of a clinic that is based in Ukraine which I'm sure can help you! They are leaders in medical innovations and have helped people from all over the world.

They are called ilaya and they have surrogacy programmes in Ukraine and in the USA too which works out to be about half the costs of surrogacy there.

Try them out

[fertility lawyer]

Hi Simona,
i read your e-mail below and I think that another option for you could be Greece, which is quite convenient to you, given that you are an EU citizen. I am sending you a link with the basic info and I am at your disposal should you require any further help.

http://www.nomos.gr/nomoswp/wp-content/ ... rogacy.pdf

Kind regards

[josssy]

The clinic is called biotexcom. By the way we didn't pay all sum at once! I completely agree with you. It's pretty risky to do so. The payment was divided into 5 rates. We paid €8000 during the first visit. Then we paid €7900 during our second visit. Third payment €8000 was paid on twelve weeks of the gestation of the surrogate mother. €8000 we paid after the birth of our son. And the last 5th payment €8000 we paid after receiving of the child’s birth certificate and passport for our son to leave the country.

I should say the clinic has pretty good service. We were met by taxi driver. Then taxi was carrying us across the city. We didn't have to find the clinic by ourselves! I'm sure we would be lost. Especially considering the fact that neither I nor my husband known the language. The taxi brought us to the clinic. It's a very modern building I must say. We also had a translator so there were no misunderstandings at all. That girl translated everything for us and also answered all our questions. We stayed at nice apartment with all needed facilities and even more) We had no problems with food supply or communication.

I've been reading a lot of information about Ukraine recently. I know nothing about this country. I have many doubts about Ukrainian medicine. I'm thinking maybe it would be better to go to Russia. The price slightly differs. But Russia is bigger country. I really doubt that services differ somehow. It seems to me their medicine is even on higher level. I hope you'll help me to clarify everything. So I could consider this country as an option.

First of all I need to ask how much did you pay for all those services? Maybe it would be much cheaper if you find car, hire a translator, stay in hotel, etc. All by yourself I mean. I think clinics may higher price a bit. It's obvious that they find all these so they take more money for their work.

Second of all I want to ask about your surrogate mother. Did you choose surrogate mother by your own? Does the clinic have database of surrogates or smth like that? How can you be sure that all those women are healthy? There are really many cases when surrogate mothers had poor health or pernicious habits. So they lost babies or gave birth to unhealthy children. Where are guarantees that surrogate mother is healthy and she will carry a healthy kid? By the way, did your surro live with you? This way it's easier to control the process. At the same time moving her to foreign country can be problematic and expensive...

I'm really sorry for so many questions. I didn't mean to bother you. I just want to know more about the process. So I could choose where we should go. I really want to be sure in a place where we'll have the procedure. I have great fear of failure... I know I can't predict every single detail and be ready for any inconvenience. At the same time I need to know more to make final decision.

[josssy]

Hello Jossy, I know of a clinic that is based in Ukraine which I'm sure can help you! They are leaders in medical innovations and have helped people from all over the world.

They are called ilaya and they have surrogacy programmes in Ukraine and in the USA too which works out to be about half the costs of surrogacy there.

Try them out

Hi Simona,
i read your e-mail below and I think that another option for you could be Greece, which is quite convenient to you, given that you are an EU citizen. I am sending you a link with the basic info and I am at your disposal should you require any further help.

http://www.nomos.gr/nomoswp/wp-content/ ... rogacy.pdf

Kind regards

Thanks a lot for this information! I'll definitely check both variants. I appreciate your support. It means a lot for me. I'm really grateful! You've helped my very much to understand this process. As I know more know it will be easier for me to search for a clinic.

[jennyblack]

I understand your concerns. Ukraine is a small country with unstable situation. I should say that size of Russia is not an index of qualitative medicine. As high prices in USA are not index of 100% success guarantee. There are many small countries which have medicine which is on very high level. Anyway we didn't go to Russia for one simple reason. The sing is Russian legislation hasn't straight regulations on surrogacy. What I mean is surrogate mother is an actual mother of a child in Russia. So you'll have to go through adoption of a baby. There are small risk that sm can decide to leave a baby because she has all rights to do so. Sure, you can go to court and try to prove that baby is yours. But for that you'll have to do a DNA test. Only mother of a baby can give you permission to do it. As sm is an actual mother of a baby it's almost impossible to get that permission. I hope my explanations are clear) That's why we went to Ukraine because it doesn't have this law.

We didn't pay for those services. More precisely, those services were included into our package. As I've mentioned already, we paid approximately €40 000 for everything. We were never asked to pay extra fees.

We didn't choose sm. The thing is her appearance does not solve anything in this procedure. The most important are her health and ability to bear a child. So our doctor chose sm for us. I was sure that our sm is healthy and that doctors checked her before allowing her to participate into the program. The clinic has pretty high success rates. I don't think it would have such rates if they didn't check their surrogate mommies. Moreover there was some info in our contract. Under the terms and conditions of the contract, all sm must go thru medical examinations and psychological diagnostics. Also all sm must have positive experience in childbirth. That is why our sm lived in Ukraine during the whole program. I think it would be very hard and stressful for her to live apart from her family for almost a year. Our sm lived with her husband and kids in familiar environment. She felt comfortable and didn't worry about her loved ones. Our program coordinator was informing us about state of our baby and sm at least once per month.

[TayloRSS]

Hello dear! First of all I need to tell that your attitude and feelings toward your baby won't be different. It'll still be your baby! I was born without an uterus. There is no chance for me to get pregnant and feel my baby pushing into my stomach. Still I'm grateful there are places and people who can help us with our problem. Our daughter Kristine was born in May last year. We love her so much! I didn't carry her but this fact changes nothing.

We used the clinic, which is called BioTexCom. I should say that neither our program coordinator, nor our doctor made us to wait for too long. When we contacted the clinic for the first time, response was fast, answers to our questions were clear and we got all info we needed. In 2,5 months after our first visit our program coordinator contacted us and told us that they found surrogate mother for us. The service was on a good level. Speaking about price the clinic has packages. You can choose the one which suits you the most. We chose vip for 49 900 euros.

I wish you all the best with any decision you will take! I hope you will update us with good news soon)

[EmmaK]

First of all, I am sorry for your loss. I believe that having a child would help you carry on and life your lives. Paying $150 000 was not an option for us- so we looked into surrogacy abroad. We found an amazing clinic in Ukraine and went all in. It cost us half of what the cost would be in USA, and we were able to pay the amount in 4 parts. They have a legal consultant who helped with all the papers and documents necessary to take our baby home. We really enjoyed our experience with Intersono IVF. I would really recommend it .
http://intersono-ivf.com/treatments/fer ... /surrogacy