Is there a surrogacy agency in Schaumburg?
No. There is no surrogacy agency based in Schaumburg, Arlington Heights, Hoffman Estates or Palatine. Families in the northwest suburbs work with a Chicago-area agency and do their medical appointments at a fertility clinic nearby.
Private Label Surrogacy serves the northwest suburbs from its office at 1721 Mission Hills Road, Unit 406, Northbrook, IL 60062. It was founded in 2017 by Nancy Block, RN, who spent 17 years as an OB/GYN and fertility nurse at Northwestern Memorial Hospital's Prentice Women's Pavilion and has matched surrogates and egg donors since 2000. PLS serves all of Illinois, intended parents across the US and abroad, and surrogates in surrogacy-friendly states.
This page is written by Jenni Symons, a PLS case manager who has been a gestational surrogate twice, delivering in 2019 and 2021.
How close is the PLS office to the northwest suburbs?
| Northwest suburbs at a glance | Detail |
|---|---|
| Drive from Schaumburg to the Northbrook office | About 30 minutes east on Lake Cook Road, or via I-90 and I-294 |
| Arlington Heights, Hoffman Estates, Palatine | [drive times to confirm] |
| Monitoring near home | Fertility Centers of Illinois locations in the area (confirm current locations) |
| First-time surrogate base compensation | $60,000 (proposed, up from $55,000) |
| Monthly allowance | $300 |
| Typical total surrogate package | Roughly $68,000 to $78,000 |
| Program fee for intended parents | $35,000 currently; proposed $42,000 on new agreements. Confirm current schedule. |
| Typical total cost to intended parents | $150,000 to $200,000 |
| Where the money sits | Independent licensed escrow, funded by intended parents |
Thirty minutes is close enough for an in-person first meeting, but most families do not need to make the drive more than once, if at all. Most contact with the agency is by phone and video, and medical visits happen at the clinic.
Where do Schaumburg surrogates do monitoring?
Monitoring means the bloodwork and ultrasounds that track the surrogate's response to medications before transfer and the early weeks of pregnancy after it. These visits can come close together, so they happen near home.
The northwest suburbs have clinic access for monitoring, including Fertility Centers of Illinois locations in the area. PLS works with 14 partner fertility centers, including Kindbody, Shady Grove Fertility, Fertility Centers of Illinois and Oregon Reproductive Medicine, and coordinates with any licensed clinic the intended parents choose.
The local clinic sends results to the intended parents' clinic, which sets the medication plan and performs the transfer. That clinic may be in Chicago or in another state. PLS covers the surrogate's travel for screening and transfer. After the early pregnancy is confirmed and the clinic releases her, she continues care with her own OB and delivers at a hospital she chooses with that OB.
Through all of it, her case manager is the person who keeps the calendar straight: when medications start, when monitoring falls, when to travel, and what the clinic needs next. Julie Bendix, MPH, RD, LD, CLC, PLS's registered dietitian and lactation counselor, holds at least six nutrition consults with each surrogate across the journey. Before delivery, PLS coordinates the birth plan and legal paperwork with the hospital, so the staff know who the intended parents are before labor starts.
What do northwest-suburb surrogates need to qualify?
The same criteria apply across Illinois and every state where PLS recruits. To apply, you must be:
- 21 to 43 years old
- A US citizen or permanent resident
- At a BMI under 33
- Someone who has had at least one healthy full-term pregnancy and is raising a child now
- A non-smoker
- Not receiving government assistance
- Living in a stable home
- Not currently taking antidepressants
Screening then runs through seven steps: online application, interview with a case manager, a medical records review by Mark Silverberg, DDS, MD, a background check, an insurance review, a psychological evaluation by an independent licensed professional, and medical screening at the intended parents' clinic. From application to match averages about 6 months.
Matching is based on fit and clinic logistics, not on distance alone. A Cook County surrogate is sometimes matched with local parents, and many Illinois surrogates carry for out-of-state or international parents. Either way, compensation and support are the same.
The surrogate package includes $60,000 first-time base compensation (proposed), a $300 monthly allowance, $500 at medication start, $1,000 at transfer, $750 for maternity clothing, $90 per week housekeeping from 32 weeks, $200 per week if pumping, lost wages for you and your partner, and extended life insurance up to $750,000. All of it is paid from an independent escrow account that the intended parents fund before medications start. See surrogate compensation in Illinois.
What do intended parents in Schaumburg pay?
Intended parents in the northwest suburbs budget $150,000 to $200,000 for the full journey. An itemized PLS journey runs about $112,000 to $127,000 before clinic fees and any new surrogate insurance.
- Program fee: $35,000 currently, paid $15,000 at signing, $15,000 at surrogate acceptance and $5,000 at medical clearance. Proposed $42,000 on new agreements. Confirm current schedule.
- Surrogate compensation package: typically roughly $68,000 to $78,000.
- Third-party costs: $15,300 to $29,000 for attorneys for both sides, escrow administration, the psychological evaluation, background checks, insurance review, travel and monitoring.
- Surrogate health insurance, only if her plan excludes surrogacy: $5,000 to $40,000.
- IVF and clinic fees: paid directly to your clinic.
Escrow is funded with $10,000 at match and the balance before medications start, through an independent licensed escrow agent. You may choose your own escrow company. PLS never holds client funds, which is the single most important protection in a journey that moves this much money. See escrow.
How to start from Schaumburg
For surrogates, start with the short online prescreen. It takes under two minutes and checks the core requirements first. If you pass, the full application takes about 20 minutes, and Nancy's team contacts you within one business day.
For intended parents, book a consultation with Nancy Block, RN. You will cover where you are medically, what the journey costs and when each payment falls, how long matching takes today (about 9 months from signing to meeting a surrogate, with a target of 6 months or fewer), and who will carry your case. You meet the team before paying any fee.
Either way, you can meet in Northbrook or by video. See the Chicago agency page, the Northbrook office page and how to become a surrogate in Illinois.