Surrogacy Statistics

Surrogacy is the practice of a woman carrying the biological child of another person or couple with whom the baby will be placed for adoption after the birth. In traditional cases, the child will be related to the surrogate. In gestational surrogacy, the woman is carrying the couple's fertilized egg, or embryo. Just over 5,000 children were thought to be born and adopted through surrogacy between 2004 and 2008.

The first in vitro fertilization to lead to the birth of a child was in 1978. Since then, there has been a market for surrogate mothers but few statistics.

According to a report by Council for Responsible Genetics, as of 2008, there are no surrogacy statistics available to the general public. However, the CRG was able to discern from information available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology that in four years, the number of children born to gestational surrogates more than doubled (738 in 2004 to 1,400 in 2008).

The average amount of money that surrogate mothers make is between $12,000 and $25,000. The states with significantly higher numbers of children born to surrogates are New Jersey and California with 92 and 95, respectively. However, there's an estimated average of nine children born to surrogates in every state, according to data reported by the CRG.