Dear Savvy Surrogate: Please Explain Short Term Disability

Dear Savvy Surrogate:

I’m interested in becoming a surrogate. I work full-time and plan on taking time off after the birth from my job to recover from the delivery. In the past, my OB has let me go back to work 6 weeks after my deliveries, which were all vaginal deliveries. I’ve always used my short-term disability policy from work to recover some of my lost wages while I’ve been on maternity leave. This time around I plan to do the same thing with my short-term disability. But I would also like the intended parents to reimburse me for my full lost wages since the reason I will be missing work is due to delivering their baby. This seems fair since I pay for the short-term disability myself, and have paid for it myself for years. Will this work?

Thanks for you help,

Newbie Surrogate

Dear Newbie:

A  surrogate is typically taken off work by her doctor while she recovers from the delivery.  This is the same as when your doctor took you off work following your own pregnancies. Sometimes surrogates are also taken out of work during the pregnancy for medical complications.  Sometimes, but not always, doctors order bed rest (either at home or in the hospital).  As you can imagine, a lot depends on the job that the surrogate has--is she lifting 50 pound boxes all day long or does she sit at a desk all day? Either way, most legal contracts provide that the intended parents are responsible for the surrogate's lost wages while she is out of work. 

Here’s the caveat: Sometimes surrogates have short term disability (STD) insurance policies that kick in to cover a portion of their lost wages.  It is typically expected that these insurance policies will have the primary responsibility for covering her lost wages.  If the insurance isn't enough to fully cover her lost income (and it usually isn't), then the intended parents pay the difference out-of-pocket.

The reason that you cannot collect on the disability policy AND receive full lost wages from the intended parents is that this would create a windfall for you.  The purpose of lost wages reimbursement is to make you "whole" not to have you getting an extra financial benefit.  This is how most surrogacy contracts are set up.

However, since the intended parents are benefiting from the disability policy, it's reasonable to ask the intended parents to cover the cost of the policy premiums during your surrogacy journey.

Of course, you should check your surrogacy contract and talk to your lawyer to understand exactly how your arrangement is set up.

Do you have questions about becoming a surrogate or intended parent?  Email us at info@newenglandsurro.com.  You can also schedule a free consult for us to answer your questions about the surrogacy process.