WHEELING - Giving birth can be a taxing struggle for a surrogate mother, but the money she gets for her efforts most often isn't taxable.

Depending on how a surrogate's legal contract with the prospective parents is worded, she may just be receiving compensation for "pain and suffering."

This amount can exceed $30,000, and most cases this compensation isn't taxed, according to information provided by leading fertility clinics.

The issue of surrogacy came to the forefront recently as a Martins Ferry woman served as a surrogate mother for celebrity couple Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick, and gave birth to twins this week at East Ohio Regional Hospital.

Local residents, though, looking to surrogacy as a solution to fertility problems likely would have to look outside the area for clinics and doctors specializing in the practice.

Local obstetricians contacted did not want to speak about the issue.

But leading surrogacy providers such as Creative Conception Inc. of Mission Viejo, Calif., and Growing Generations of Los Angeles indicate the largest cost in the surrogacy process is the surrogate's fee.

And that fee can be higher if an "experienced" surrogate is utilized, according to both organizations.

Growing Generations lists the compensation for a first-time surrogate at $22,000, plus $5,000 in additional fees and allowances for health and life insurance, and all surrogacy related expenses. Second-time surrogates receive $25,000 plus all of the above benefits; and third-time surrogates, $30,000.

Creative Conception, meanwhile, provides a more detailed look at the costs.

First-time surrogates there are compensated at a base rate of $21,500, while second-time surrogates receive $26,500. The compensation is paid in installments of $2,500, but it isn't indicated how often these payments arrive.

The surrogate is also to receive "miscellaneous compensation" through Creative Conception during the pregnancy.

Among the listed costs for the prospective parents is up to $560 for house cleaning services for the mother.

This service would start after the 16th week of pregnancy, with the fee paid directly to a house cleaning company.

Due at the start of the 13th week of pregnancy is $600 for maternity clothes, and an additional $250 is stipulated if the surrogate is pregnant with twins or triplets.

Large amounts of money also can be due the surrogate if the pregnancy warrants additional medical procedures.

If twins are delivered, the mother receives $5,000; and for triplets, $7,000.

A Caesarean section would warrant another $2,000. And if an hysterectomy is caused by delivery, the mother would receive $5,000.

"It's a huge financial thing," said Kellie Snell, owner of Creative Conception. "Not all people who are experiencing financial problems can do it. It's what people do when they come to the end of their rope."

While she admits many of her clients are wealthier than most, she said among them have been married couples, single men and women and gay couples.

There are two different types of surrogacy.

In traditional surrogacy, the surrogate mother's own egg is fertilized with a donor sperm. In gestational surrogacy, an embryo is implanted within the surrogate mother. Success rates for each procedure vary from clinic to clinic, and statistics can run as far as two years behind, Snell said.

"What does matter is the age of the egg," she noted. "If the intended mother's egg is age 40, there is much less chance of success than if it came from a 29-year-old."

The biggest misconception about surrogate mothers is that they carry a child for money, but this is not the case, Snell said.

"I've been doing this for over 15 years," she said. "And my surrogates are wonderful people - often stay-at-home moms. Does it help their family? Yes. That's a given. But I can't say they do this for a job in general."