Should You Adopt Or Go The Surrogacy Route?
When you are looking to start a family, the news that you are not able to due to health concerns or other reasons can come as a big blow. Luckily, there are other ways to make sure you are able to start a family even if you can’t conceive. Some people will go the IVF route, others will adopt. There is even the option to have a surrogate have the baby for you if none of the other options is suitable for you.
There are a lot of things that go into the decision and each has its merits and demerits. In this article, we will focus on adopting versus surrogacy since they have some similarities. Once you have all the information you can make a decision that works best for you.Costs
Both adoption and surrogacy have costs that are associated and can be quite expensive. If you have the qualifications for surrogacy it can cost quite a bit of money as does adoption.
For instance, you will be required to pay a lot of fees to an adoption agency when you go through that process. It can cost tens of thousands of dollars to finally get to the adoption stage when you take the child home.
Surrogacy also should be done through an agency so that you are covered legally and will have protection if anything comes up later. There are also fees associated with the agency but in addition, you will also be covering the surrogate mother’s medical expenses and also other compensation.
In either scenario, you will likely be able to deduct some of these expenses from your taxes, but understand that the process, either way, will be expensive.Medical process
When adopting, it is very common that the child has already been born. They could be in foster care, or even still in the hospital when you start the process. With surrogacy, you are part of the equation from the very moment the pregnancy starts and will likely be involved or at least aware of the process from a medical perspective.
Usually, surrogacy involves an IVF treatment to start the pregnancy which can be time-consuming and take multiple attempts before there is a viable embryo.
How to get matched
One of the biggest differences between the two options is how the matching process goes. If you have some specific criteria for what you are looking for when adopting, there could be a long time before you are successfully matched with the right child. For instance, if you want the child to be a newborn and in good health then the chances of this happening are rare. Usually, the child is already growing and can have health issues.
Surrogacy is a bit more straightforward as you are looking for a mother and not a specific child. When you have a willing surrogate then you are essentially going to get what you are looking for when it comes to the child and will only be waiting through the pregnancy to get your dream child.
