Why you need your own attorney and who pays
Yes, you need your own lawyer, and you do not pay for one. Every Private Label Surrogacy surrogate has her own independent attorney, chosen from a list of reproductive law attorneys licensed in her state. The intended parents pay your attorney's fee as part of their legal costs.
Illinois law requires independent legal counsel for both the surrogate and the intended parents. The Equality for Every Family Act, signed in December 2025, requires independent counsel for both sides.
PLS required separate attorneys before any law said so, for a simple reason. The contract decides your compensation, your medical rights and your insurance. The intended parents' attorney works for them. PLS does not employ attorneys at all; it refers you to independent professionals and takes no share of their fees. Your attorney works only for you. Whatever the parents' attorney drafts, yours reads with your interests in mind and pushes back where the terms do not protect you.
You choose your attorney. Your case manager gives you names of reproductive law attorneys licensed in your state, and you can ask each one about their experience with gestational carrier agreements before you decide.
The eight sections of a gestational carrier agreement
A gestational carrier agreement usually runs 40 to 60 pages. The length comes from detail, not from complexity. Most of it covers eight subjects:
- Compensation and the milestone payment schedule. What you are paid and when.
- Expense reimbursements, including lost wages for you and your partner.
- The number of embryos transferred and how many transfer attempts you agree to.
- Medical decisions, including termination and selective reduction. These must match what you said in screening.
- Conduct during pregnancy, such as travel limits and no alcohol.
- Insurance and life insurance.
- Contact and the birth plan.
- Parentage, confirming that the intended parents are the legal parents from birth.
| Section | What it decides | What to ask your attorney | Typical PLS term |
|---|---|---|---|
| Compensation | Base compensation and when each installment is paid | When does each payment release, and what triggers it? | First-time base $60,000; experienced $65,000 to $70,000 |
| Expenses | What is reimbursed and how | Is my partner's lost time covered? How fast are receipts paid? | Monthly allowance $300; lost wages and partner lost wages |
| Embryos and attempts | How many embryos per transfer and how many transfers | What happens to the payment schedule if a transfer fails? | One embryo per transfer |
| Medical decisions | Termination, reduction, bed rest, who decides about your health | Does this match what I said in screening, word for word? | Matches your wish list |
| Conduct | Alcohol, travel, activities during pregnancy | What exactly am I agreeing not to do, and for how long? | No alcohol; no travel beyond agreed limits after 24 weeks |
| Insurance | Health coverage for the pregnancy and life insurance | Who pays if my plan denies a claim? | Life insurance up to $750,000 |
| Contact and birth plan | How you communicate and who is at the birth | Can the birth plan change, and who agrees to changes? | Set from your match meeting |
| Parentage | Who the legal parents are | What do I sign, and when? | Intended parents are the legal parents from birth |
Compensation and reimbursement terms to check
Compensation at PLS is published as a total package first, then as base compensation. First-time surrogates receive a base of $60,000 and experienced surrogates $65,000 to $70,000. The typical total package, with allowances and reimbursements, is roughly $68,000 to $78,000. Read the payment schedule for how base compensation is split into installments.
The contract lists each payment. Under PLS terms these include:
- A monthly allowance of $300.
- $500 when medications start.
- A $1,000 transfer fee.
- $5,000 for twins or $10,000 for triplets.
- Maternity clothing, $750, or $1,000 for multiples.
- $200 per week if you pump breast milk.
- Housekeeping at $90 per week from 32 weeks.
- Your lost wages and your partner's lost wages.
- Life insurance up to $750,000.
Check three things with your attorney. First, that every payment has a clear trigger, such as a confirmed heartbeat or a transfer date. Second, what happens to the schedule if a transfer fails or a pregnancy ends early. Third, how lost wages are documented and how quickly reimbursements are paid.
All of it is paid from an independent licensed escrow account, not by PLS. The intended parents deposit $10,000 at match and fund the balance before you start medications. See how escrow protects you.
Medical decision clauses: termination, reduction, bed rest
These are the clauses most worth reading slowly.
Termination and selective reduction. The contract records what you and the intended parents agreed to about ending a pregnancy or reducing the number of fetuses. It must match what you said in screening. That is why PLS matches on these views before anything else: the contract can only write down an agreement that already exists.
No contract can force a medical procedure on you. The contract records what you agreed to. Your body and your medical care stay yours.
Bed rest and medical instructions. The contract usually says you will follow the instructions of your doctors. If your OB orders bed rest, the contract sets out how lost wages and household help are covered during it. Ask your attorney how those costs are calculated.
Your health comes first. Ask your attorney to show you the clause that says who decides when your own health is at risk. You should be able to point to it.
Conduct and travel clauses
Conduct clauses set the rules you agree to follow during the pregnancy. Typical terms include no alcohol. Contracts commonly add no smoking, no recreational drugs and keeping all medical appointments. Many contracts also limit travel after 24 weeks, so that you deliver at or near your chosen hospital.
Read these clauses with your actual life in mind. If you have a family wedding at 30 weeks, raise it now. If your job involves heavy lifting, say so. Your attorney can negotiate a clause before you sign. It is much harder to change one afterward.
Parentage: pre-birth orders and what they mean for you
In gestational surrogacy, you have no genetic link to the baby. The embryo is created through IVF from the intended parents' eggs and sperm or from donors.
Illinois law recognizes the intended parents as the legal parents from birth. Before the birth, the attorneys for both sides complete the pre-birth parentage process, so the hospital names the intended parents on the original birth certificate. You do not adopt the baby out, and you have no parental rights or obligations.
The parentage process differs by state. If you live or deliver outside Illinois, your attorney explains the process that applies to you. See surrogacy laws and residency by state.
For you, this means two things. You will not be asked to make legal decisions for the baby after delivery. And you are not responsible for the baby's care, cost or future.
How long legal takes and what you sign
The legal phase usually takes two to four weeks from first draft to signatures.
- The intended parents' attorney sends a first draft.
- Your attorney reviews it with you, clause by clause.
- The attorneys negotiate changes.
- You both sign the final agreement.
- The intended parents finish funding escrow.
- Only then does the clinic start your medications.
You sign the gestational carrier agreement. Later in the pregnancy, you also sign documents for the parentage filing. Your attorney explains each one before you sign it.
What happens if either side breaches
A breach means one side did not do what the contract says. The contract sets out remedies for a breach, and your attorney explains how each one would work for you.
The most common breach surrogates worry about is not being paid. That is the reason escrow matters. If compensation sits with an independent licensed escrow agent, the money is already set aside and is paid out under the contract schedule. It does not depend on the intended parents' bank balance in month seven, or on the agency staying in business. PLS has used independent licensed escrow since it opened in 2017.
If you think the contract has been breached, call your case manager and your attorney the same day. Write down what happened and when. Do not try to settle it yourself with the intended parents.
Ready to start? See if you qualify, or read the full surrogate process.
Reviewed by [attorney name], [firm], on [date]. Statute details on this page are pending review by counsel.
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), recommendations for practices using gestational carriers.
- SEEDS, Society for Ethics in Egg Donation and Surrogacy.