A New Brunswick couple that’s hoping to become parents through surrogacy says there’s an added financial barrier in the province that other Canadians don’t necessarily face.
Martin Rioux and his husband have dreamt of parenthood for years. After many ups and downs, the Memramcook, N.B., couple decided to have embryos created with donated eggs.
“We knew we were ready for a child. We gave ourselves maybe a horizon of, like, three to four years,” Rioux said.
After struggling to find an egg donor, and also potential surrogates, Rioux’s sister-in-law offered to carry a baby through in-vitro fertilization (IVF).
Federal laws prohibit paying a surrogate for anything other than expenses incurred because of the pregnancy.
Still, the costs of IVF and other expenses have added up quickly — with Rioux estimating the tally at over $60,000.
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The costs don’t end there.
He was taken aback when he learned the hospital would automatically put the surrogate as the …