subject: Why Can't A Surrogate Mother Be On Government Assistance? [print this page] State funded surrogacy, that is, a commercial surrogacy arrangement where the surrogate mother is receiving governmental assistance such as Medicaid, "welfare", or food stamps, is illegal. Potential surrogate mothers who would otherwise qualify for surrogate pregnancy but are receiving state or federally funded aid are usually automatically rejected. But why?
Most people involved in surrogacy feel that a woman generous enough to make the decision to bless another couple with a baby should not be judged ineligible simply because she has fallen on hard times. And such a woman should be commended! But surrogacy is not, at this time, right for her situation.
First, there is the fact that society at large sometimes sees commercial surrogacy as a rich set of intended parents buying the physical services of a poor woman, and essentially taking advantage of her to avoid disfiguring themselves with a pregnancy. While in reality, nothing could be further from the truth, a woman on government assistance acting as a surrogate mother for an upper-middle class couple does perpetuate the myth.
More importantly, however, is the fact that if the surrogate mother receives any sort of compensation, she will, most likely, become ineligible to receive her government assistance in the first place. This could include Medicaid not just for herself, but for her children as well. According to the law, all persons on government assistance must declare any sort of income they receive, whether that is from working, from selling unwanted belongings on eBay, or from a friend as a birthday gift.
Some intended parents and surrogate mothers feel the need to skirt the law and try to do commercial surrogacy in a "hush-hush" don't-ask-don't-tell sort of manner. They may feel the laws are silly, or that the surrogate mother deserves the extra financial support, or worse yet, may decide cash in on the system and use her Medicaid health benefits to pay for the surrogate pregnancy, labor and delivery.
Doing this is fraud against the United States Government. I cannot think of a worse entity to attempt to cheat! Don't do it! Using state funded surrogacy is one of the absolute worst things you can do. Can you imagine bringing a baby into a situation where it's birth mother, biological mother, and biological father were being held liable for defrauding the government?
These reasons are why surrogacy agencies simply avoid all potential surrogates on government assistance. When a potential surrogate is in a better place in her life, the timing might be better to make her dreams of helping another couple come true.
