A Surrogacy Arrangement in the United States can cost Intended Parents approximately $120,000 USD. Options in other countries can be half that cost, but these countries are limiting or restricting Surrogacy Arrangements due to fears of Surrogate Mother exploitation.
“India, Nepal, Thailand and Mexico have introduced measures that would limit or ban foreigners from hiring locals as surrogate mothers,” explains Donna Dickenson, a University of London medical ethics professor and expert in the global surrogacy trade. Despite the economic benefits of the surrogacy industry, these countries have begun establishing restrictions on foreign intended parents as a way to protect vulnerable women from exploitation. These fears are not entirely unfounded. In 2014, an Australian couple abandoned their son with their Thai surrogate after learning he had Down syndrome.