Each surrogacy agency has their own specific surrogate benefit package (SBP) with unique terms and provisions. We have a entire separate post just on that topic alone and how to compare benefit packages across agencies. Within each benefit package, there is usually a base pregnancy compensation amount. This is also the number you usually see in the advertisements the agencies use when touting compensation for first-time Surrogates versus repeat Surrogates. One thing to keep in mind and pay attention to is how that pregnancy compensation is structured.
Total Pregnancy Compensation Amount 
If you see an ad saying you can earn $35K for being a surrogate, that is usually talking about what the base pregnancy compensation is, meaning the dollar amount you receive over the course of your pregnancy. That total amount is going to be broken down and is typically paid out in monthly installments (most agencies use 8-10 payments). Those monthly payments don’t normally begin until after a pregnancy is confirmed following the embryo transfer; So, you won’t normally start getting those monthly payments right after the transfer occurs. The most common trigger for payments to begin is the heartbeat ultrasound appointments (either the 1st or 2nd confirmation appointment). That means that your pregnancy base compensation won’t kick in until about the 6-8th week of pregnancy. The remaining payments will then be paid every month thereafter until you deliver.
What happens if you deliver early?
Depending on when you deliver and the outcome of the delivery, you will either receive all the remaining payments you are owed, or you will only keep the payments you have received up until the delivery event takes place. So if you miscarry at week 16, then your pregnancy payments will likely stop at that point. You may get a prorated amount of the next monthly pregnancy payment you were entitled to that covers the days you were pregnant since your last pregnancy payment. But this is not always the case. As I said, every agency package is a little different.
If instead, you deliver early at week 27, you would still get to keep the payments you have received, but you might not get any additional payments. That can be true even if the baby survives and goes home with the Intended Parents. Many surrogacy agencies are trying to move away from having your pregnancy compensation tied to the child surviving the delivery, but some still have pregnancy payment provisions that pay the surrogate all of her remaining compensation if the baby is discharged from the hospital, is cared for in a well-baby nursery, or reaches some other healthy milestone.
For these reasons, it will be helpful for you to know what the agency (an eventually your surrogacy contract) considers to be a full-term pregnancy.
What does fully vested mean?
Fully vested basically means that you are viewed to have carried the pregnancy to full-term and therefore should get all of your remaining pregnancy compensation you were promised, even if you haven’t received those payments yet. Remember, since you don’t start getting paid for being pregnant until around week 6-8, by the 30th week of the pregnancy, you may only have received 7 of your 10 monthly pregnancy payments. So, in our example, this clause determines if you get those additional 3 payments or not. 
The timing of what is viewed to be fully vested can vary wildly. Some surrogacy agencies use 28 weeks from the embryo transfer date, others I have seen go upwards of 34 weeks from the embryo transfer. That can make a big difference in the amount you receive for being pregnant depending on when you deliver. This is especially true if those payments do not take into account whether or not the child survives to hospital discharge, or some other healthy milestone. An earlier full-term vesting clause can provide you with a little certainty that you will receive all of your pregnancy base compensation even if you deliver on the early side (which is not uncommon in surrogate arrangements). So, keep any eye out for those kinds of timing terms in the agency’s benefit package when it comes to your base pregnancy compensation.
▶ ▶▶ For more information and a no-cost consultation with Attorney James Mahan, please contact The Surrogate’s Corner!
