What is the legal context for surrogacy in Israel, at a high level?
Status as of [date], reviewed by counsel.
This page is for intended parents who live in Israel and are considering gestational surrogacy in the United States. It explains how a Private Label Surrogacy (PLS) journey works from Israel. It is not legal advice about Israeli law. Every statement here about Israeli law, consular practice or recognition of parentage is a high-level summary, and your Israeli attorney advises you on your own case.
Israel regulates domestic surrogacy under statute, the Embryo Carrying Agreements Law. A 2021 Supreme Court ruling opened the domestic program to same-sex couples and single men. The domestic program has historically had eligibility limits and long waits, and many families still go abroad.
Before you sign with PLS, meet an Israeli attorney who handles surrogacy abroad. Ask:
- What does the consulate require to confirm the genetic link, and how long does it take today?
- Which of us should be the genetic parent, given how recognition works for the other parent?
- Which US documents will we need at home, and in what form: apostille, certified copies, translation?
- What court process will the non-genetic parent go through, and when can it be filed?
- Does it matter whether donor eggs are used, and from which donor program?
- Is there anything the US agreement or parentage order should say with the Israeli process in mind?
Share the answers with Jan Telman Berman, PLS's Global Surrogacy Coordinator, who coordinates with Israeli counsel and builds your US document checklist around them.
Why do Israeli parents, especially gay couples, choose the United States?
Many Israeli intended parents who use US surrogacy are gay couples or single men. Even after the 2021 ruling, the domestic program's eligibility limits and waits lead many of these families to look abroad. In the US, the question is not whether you qualify as a family. It is which state's law governs the journey and how quickly you can be matched.
In Illinois, the Gestational Surrogacy Act, in force since 2005, makes a compensated gestational surrogacy agreement enforceable when its requirements are met, and the intended parents' parentage is established before the birth. PLS places surrogates in surrogacy-friendly US states, and each journey follows the law of the state where the surrogate lives and delivers. See the LGBTQ surrogacy page for how PLS runs journeys for two fathers and single fathers, including egg donation.
What a PLS journey adds:
- Nurse-led matching. Nancy Block, RN, founded PLS in 2017 after 17 years as an OB/GYN and fertility nurse at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. She has made more than 2,500 matches in her career and runs PLS matching personally. Nancy has spoken at assisted reproduction conferences in Israel, as well as in the US, China and Europe.
- Physician review. Mark Silverberg, DDS, MD, reads every surrogate candidate's prenatal and delivery records and writes a medical summary for your fertility clinic.
- Egg donation in the same program. If you need an egg donor, PLS can arrange the match: $11,000, or $8,500 when bundled with surrogacy.
- Independent professionals. PLS does not employ attorneys, psychologists or escrow agents.
Plan on 18 to 24 months from signing to birth, and $150,000 to $200,000 in total, paid in US dollars.
How does the consular DNA test and Israeli passport process work?
After a US birth, Israeli practice typically requires a consular DNA test confirming the genetic link to an Israeli parent before an Israeli passport is issued for the child. The DNA step typically takes a few weeks from sample to result, and it is the main driver of the post-birth stay for Israeli families. Counsel confirms current timing.
| Step | What it is | Who handles it | Typical timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-birth order | Parentage established before birth, where the state allows it | US attorneys for you and for the surrogate | Second trimester |
| Birth certificate | Birth record issued by the state of birth | Hospital and state vital records | After the birth |
| Apostille | Certification of US documents for use in Israel | Your US attorney or the issuing state | After the birth certificate |
| Consular DNA test | DNA test confirming the genetic link to an Israeli parent | Israeli consulate and your Israeli attorney | A few weeks from sample to result |
| Israeli passport | Issued after the genetic link is confirmed | Israeli consulate | After the DNA result |
| US passport | The child's US passport, subject to the August 6, 2026 executive order now under litigation | You, with your US attorney | Before departure |
| Court recognition at home | Court process in Israel for the non-genetic parent | Your Israeli attorney | After return |
A federal executive order dated August 6, 2026, on citizenship for children born through compensated surrogacy to two non-citizen parents is under litigation. It may affect whether a child born to two Israeli citizen parents receives a US passport. Your counsel advises how that affects your exit plan; see leaving the US with your baby.
PLS prepares the US side: the timing of the parentage filing with both US attorneys, a hospital birth plan that names the intended parents, and a checklist of every document your Israeli attorney needs.
How is the non-genetic parent recognized in Israel?
The genetic parent is recognized first. The second parent usually proceeds through an Israeli court order after the family returns.
What you can do in the US to support that process: keep your clinic's documentation of which parent provided gametes for each embryo, ask your US attorney for certified copies of the parentage order naming both of you, and bring apostilled copies home. Your Israeli attorney tells you how many.
How are funds wired and protected?
You pay in US dollars by international wire. Money for the surrogate and third-party services goes to an independent licensed escrow agent, not to PLS.
- $10,000 into escrow at match.
- The balance before medications start. Nothing medical begins until the agreement is signed and escrow is funded.
- Third-party costs of $15,300 to $29,000, paid from escrow, for both attorneys, escrow administration, the psychological evaluation, background checks, insurance review, surrogate travel and local monitoring.
- The PLS program fee, paid to PLS at signing, surrogate acceptance and medical clearance. Program fee: confirm current schedule.
- Clinic and IVF fees, paid to your clinic.
The shekel-to-dollar rate is your risk; many families convert in two or three tranches. You may choose your own escrow company. The escrow agent issues a ledger of every disbursement, which is yours to use in recognition proceedings at home. The Surro Connections collapse in late 2025 and the SEAM escrow failure, which involved more than $16 million, are the reason PLS has never held client funds. See currency and escrow.
When do you travel and how long do you stay after birth?
Most Israeli families travel twice: for embryo creation, if embryos are made at a US clinic, and for the birth. PLS works with 14 partner fertility centers, including Kindbody, Shady Grove Fertility and Fertility Centers of Illinois.
The birth trip is the longer one. You arrive before the due date and stay through the consular DNA step and the passport. [Typical total post-birth stay for Israeli families: confirm with Jan and counsel.] The travel and birth timing page explains how to plan the dates.
Before that, the journey runs remotely. Today it takes about 9 months from signing to meeting a surrogate, with a target of 6 months or fewer. After match, legal and medical foundations take 1 to 2 months, the medical cycle 2 to 3 months, and the pregnancy test comes 9 to 11 days after transfer.
How does PLS support Israeli families?
- Jan Telman Berman coordinates your cycle, your travel and your documents, and works with your Israeli attorney. Jan has managed national and international cycles for more than 18 years.
- Nancy Block, RN, runs your match.
- Natalie Gaudio-Fricano or Jenni Symons, both former surrogates, carries the pregnancy as your case manager. Natalie delivered a baby boy for an international couple in 2016, after a first-transfer success.
- Julie Bendix, MPH, RD, gives your surrogate at least six nutrition consults across the journey.
Calls are booked for hours that work in Israel, and your documents are tracked on one checklist from the first month.
Sources
- Private Label Surrogacy program terms: escrow funding schedule, timeline and cost ranges.
- Illinois Gestational Surrogacy Act (2005), Illinois General Assembly. Pending review by counsel.
- Israel's Embryo Carrying Agreements Law and the 2021 Supreme Court ruling, summarized at a high level. Pending review by Israeli counsel.
- Federal executive order of August 6, 2026, on citizenship for children born through compensated surrogacy. Under litigation; pending review by counsel.