This page is written by Jenni Symons, a PLS case manager who has been a gestational surrogate twice, delivering in 2019 and 2021. It is medically reviewed by Mark Silverberg, MD, who reads the prenatal and delivery records of every PLS surrogate candidate.
What are the requirements to be a surrogate in Illinois?
To apply with Private Label Surrogacy you must meet all of these:
| Requirement | Why it exists | How PLS verifies it |
|---|---|---|
| Age 21 to 43 | Illinois statute sets 21 as the minimum age; the upper limit is PLS and clinic policy | Application and ID at background check |
| US citizen or permanent resident | PLS policy | Application and background check |
| BMI under 33 | PLS and clinic policy, for a safer pregnancy and IVF medication response | Application, then clinic medical screening |
| At least one healthy full-term pregnancy | Illinois statute requires a prior birth; a prior healthy pregnancy is the best evidence of how your body handles pregnancy | Dr. Silverberg's review of your prenatal and delivery records |
| Currently raising a child | PLS policy: you know what parenting involves and what you are choosing | Application and interview |
| Non-smoker | PLS and clinic policy | Application, interview and clinic screening |
| No government assistance | PLS policy, for financial stability through the journey | Application and background check |
| Stable home | PLS policy | Interview and background check |
| No current antidepressant use | PLS policy (current site wording; reviewed case by case) | Application, records review and the independent psychological evaluation |
| Medical and mental-health evaluation | Required by Illinois statute and by the clinic | Clinic medical screening; evaluation by an independent licensed professional |
| Your own attorney | Required by Illinois statute since December 2025 | Your attorney signs the agreement with you |
Statutory attributions in this table: pending review by counsel. ASRM guidance attributions: to be added after Dr. Silverberg's review.
Why does Illinois law require a prior birth and independent counsel?
The Illinois Gestational Surrogacy Act requires that a gestational surrogate has carried and delivered at least one child. The Equality for Every Family Act, signed in December 2025, requires independent counsel for both the surrogate and the intended parents.
The reasons are practical. A woman who has given birth knows what pregnancy and delivery involve, physically and emotionally, so her consent is informed by experience. Her records also show how her body handled pregnancy, which is the best guide to how it will handle the next one.
Independent counsel protects you. Your attorney works only for you, explains the gestational carrier agreement before you sign it, and negotiates your compensation, expenses, insurance and your right to make decisions about your own health. The intended parents pay for your attorney through escrow, but the attorney answers to you. PLS has required separate attorneys since it opened in 2017 and does not employ lawyers.
What are the seven screening steps and how long does each take?
- Online application. A short prescreen first, then the full application, which takes about 20 minutes.
- Interview with a case manager. A conversation about your pregnancies, your family, your support at home and why you want to carry.
- Medical records review by Mark Silverberg, MD. Dr. Silverberg reads your prenatal and delivery records and writes a physician medical summary that goes to the intended parents' clinic. This step usually takes the longest, because it depends on how fast your OB and hospital send records.
- Background check.
- Insurance review. PLS reviews your health plan for surrogacy exclusions. If your plan excludes surrogacy, the intended parents buy a policy for you.
- Psychological evaluation by an independent licensed professional, not a PLS employee.
- Medical screening at the intended parents' fertility clinic, with travel covered.
Typically 6 to 10 weeks from application to being presented to intended parents, depending on how fast records arrive. From application to match averages about 6 months.
You can speed up the slowest step yourself. Sign the records releases as soon as your case manager sends them, and give the names of every OB practice and hospital involved in your previous pregnancies and deliveries. Missing records are the most common reason a file waits.
Once your screening is complete, Nancy Block, RN, who personally runs matching at PLS, presents you to intended parents whose plans fit yours. You meet, usually by video, and both sides decide. After a match is accepted, the steps are:
- Legal and medical foundations, 1 to 2 months. Your attorney and the intended parents' attorney negotiate the gestational carrier agreement, the intended parents fund escrow, and you complete medical screening at their clinic.
- Medical cycle, 2 to 3 months. Your clinic sets a medication calendar, you do monitoring near home, and you travel for the transfer.
- Pregnancy test, 9 to 11 days after transfer. If positive, the clinic monitors the early weeks before releasing you to your OB.
No medication starts until the agreement is signed by everyone and escrow is funded.
What disqualifies an applicant?
Anything that does not meet the requirements above: being under 21 or over 43, not being a US citizen or permanent resident, a BMI of 33 or higher, never having carried a full-term pregnancy, not currently raising a child, smoking, receiving government assistance, or an unstable living situation. Current antidepressant use is reviewed case by case.
Medical history matters too, and this is where Dr. Silverberg's review comes in. Complications in a prior pregnancy do not automatically rule you out, but they are weighed carefully, and the intended parents' clinic makes the final medical decision. Prior cesareans are an example. Many clinics accept up to two prior cesareans when the records show no complications.
Some things people expect to disqualify them do not. A tubal ligation does not matter, because gestational surrogacy uses IVF. Where you live in Illinois does not matter: eligibility and compensation are the same in Chicago, the suburbs and downstate.
If you do not qualify today, you will hear why, plainly, with no pressure. Some criteria, like BMI, can change.
What does an Illinois surrogate earn?
First-time base compensation is $60,000 (proposed, up from $55,000), and $65,000 to $70,000 for an experienced surrogate, within a typical total package of roughly $68,000 to $78,000. The package adds a monthly allowance, payments at medication start and transfer, maternity clothing, housekeeping late in pregnancy, pumping support, lost wages for you and your partner, extended life insurance, and mental-health and nutrition support.
Everything is paid from an independent licensed escrow account that the intended parents fund before your medications start. PLS never holds the money. See surrogate compensation in Illinois for the line-by-line schedule.
Where do Illinois surrogates do monitoring and delivery?
Monitoring, the bloodwork and ultrasounds before transfer and in early pregnancy, usually happens at a clinic near your home. PLS works with 14 partner fertility centers, including Fertility Centers of Illinois and Kindbody, which have Chicago-area locations.
The transfer happens at the intended parents' clinic, which may be in Chicago or another state. PLS covers your travel. After the early pregnancy is confirmed, the clinic releases you to your own OB, and you deliver at a hospital you choose with your OB. Before the due date, PLS coordinates the birth plan and the legal paperwork with the hospital.
What support does PLS provide during pregnancy?
- A case manager who has been a surrogate. Both PLS case managers, Natalie Gaudio-Fricano and Jenni Symons, have carried pregnancies for other families. Caseloads are capped so your calls get answered.
- Nutrition support. Julie Bendix, MPH, RD, LD, CLC, a registered dietitian and lactation counselor, holds at least six nutrition consults with you across the journey.
- Mental-health support from independent licensed professionals.
- After-hours coverage. One night the PLS after-hours team rebooked a stranded surrogate's hotel, car and flight while another PLS surrogate was delivering twins.
- Your own attorney, paid by the intended parents.
- Money that is already there. Your compensation sits in independent licensed escrow before your medications start, not in the agency's account. When other agencies failed in 2025 and 2026, PLS took on three of their stranded surrogates pro bono. PLS's own surrogates were not exposed, because PLS has never held client money.
Ready to start? The prescreen takes under two minutes. See also the Illinois surrogacy overview and Illinois surrogacy law.
Sources
- Illinois Gestational Surrogacy Act (2005), Illinois General Assembly. Pending review by counsel.
- Equality for Every Family Act, signed December 2025, Illinois General Assembly. Pending review by counsel.
- American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), guidance on gestational carriers: asrm.org