Surrogacy in Florida: is it legal and how does parentage work?

Is surrogacy legal in Florida?

Reviewed by counsel [name], [date]. Every statement about Florida law on this page is pending review by Florida counsel, and no statute numbers are cited until counsel signs off.

Yes. Gestational surrogacy is legal in Florida by statute. Married intended parents use a gestational surrogacy contract under the statute. Unmarried and single intended parents use a different route, Florida's pre-planned adoption agreement.

Florida frames payments to the surrogate as reasonable living, legal, medical and psychological expenses. In practice, Florida surrogates receive compensation packages comparable to other states, and counsel drafts the agreement accordingly.

This page is written by Jan Telman Berman, Global Surrogacy Coordinator at Private Label Surrogacy, who manages national and international cycles. It is not legal advice. Your own Florida reproductive attorney advises you before you sign, and the surrogate's own attorney advises her.

What law governs surrogacy in Florida?

A Florida statute governs gestational surrogacy. It covers legally married intended parents aged 18 and over where the intended mother cannot carry a pregnancy safely, and it requires the surrogate to be at least 18.

Families who fall outside the statute's definition, including single intended parents and unmarried couples, use Florida's pre-planned adoption agreement instead.

Confirm with Florida counsel how the statute's medical-need language applies to your family, including two-father families, and whether any residency rule applies.

The law covers gestational surrogacy, where the embryo is created by IVF and the surrogate has no genetic link to the child. PLS arranges gestational surrogacy only.

How is parentage established in Florida: pre-birth or post-birth?

Florida establishes parentage after the birth. The intended parents petition the court within days of delivery for an order affirming their parentage. The order is usually granted within about a month. The birth certificate is then amended to name the intended parents.

What this means in practice:

• Your attorney prepares the petition before the birth, so it can be filed as soon as the baby is born.
• PLS writes a birth plan with the delivering hospital before labor begins, so the hospital knows who the intended parents are and how the baby will be discharged.
• You plan for the weeks after birth. Until the order is granted and the birth certificate is amended, the original record may not yet name you. International parents in particular should build that time into travel plans.

States that issue pre-birth orders, such as Illinois, settle parentage before delivery. Neither route is wrong; they create different timelines. For a full comparison, see pre-birth vs post-birth parentage orders.

Who can be an intended parent in Florida?

Under the statute, the gestational surrogacy contract route covers legally married intended parents aged 18 and over where the intended mother cannot carry a pregnancy safely. Single intended parents and unmarried couples use the pre-planned adoption agreement route.

So in practice:

• Married couples use the statutory contract, with a post-birth order affirming parentage.
• Single parents and unmarried couples use the pre-planned adoption agreement.
• Same-sex couples should confirm with Florida counsel which route applies to them.

PLS treats single parents, gay couples and every other intended parent the same way. The difference in Florida is the legal route, not the process or the standard of care. A Florida attorney confirms the path for your family before you match.

If you would rather settle parentage before the birth, you can match with a surrogate in a state that offers it. PLS recruits in several surrogacy-friendly states, including Illinois, where the Gestational Surrogacy Act provides pre-birth parentage.

Who can be a surrogate in Florida?

Florida's statute requires the surrogate to be at least 18. PLS sets a higher bar. To apply with PLS, a surrogate 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 has seven steps: application, interview, a 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. Dr. Silverberg reads every candidate's prenatal and delivery records himself and writes a physician medical summary for your fertility clinic.

How does PLS work with Florida surrogates and parents?

PLS recruits surrogates in Florida and matches them with intended parents from across the US and abroad. The sequence is the same as in every PLS state:

1. Consultation and signing with Nancy Block, RN, who founded PLS in 2017 and personally runs matching.
2. Matching. About 9 months from signing to surrogate introduction today, with a target of 6 months or fewer.
3. Legal and medical foundations, 1 to 2 months. Each side has its own Florida attorney. Because the statute frames payments as expenses, counsel drafts the agreement to comply. You fund escrow.
4. Medical cycle, 2 to 3 months, ending in the embryo transfer at your clinic, with a pregnancy test 9 to 11 days later.
5. Pregnancy and birth, followed by the post-birth court step your attorney has already prepared.

The whole journey typically takes 18 to 24 months.

Florida surrogates matched through PLS monitor at a clinic in Miami, Orlando, Tampa or Jacksonville and travel to your clinic for screening and transfer. Her PLS case manager, Natalie Gaudio-Fricano or Jenni Symons, both former surrogates, stays with her through delivery. Julie Bendix, MPH, RD, LD, CLC, a registered dietitian and lactation counselor, holds at least six nutrition consults with her.

PLS does not employ attorneys, psychologists or escrow staff. It refers you to independent licensed professionals so each one answers to the person they serve.

What does a Florida journey cost and how is money held?

A Florida journey costs the same as any other PLS journey. Intended parents typically budget $150,000 to $200,000 in total:

• PLS program fee. Program fee: confirm current schedule. The current fee is $35,000; a proposed fee of $42,000 applies to new agreements.
• Surrogate compensation. A typical total package of roughly $68,000 to $78,000, built on $60,000 first-time base compensation (proposed, up from $55,000), or $65,000 to $70,000 for an experienced surrogate. See surrogate compensation in Florida.
• Third-party costs, $15,300 to $29,000: attorneys on both sides, escrow, the psychological evaluation, background check, insurance review, travel and local monitoring. The post-birth court filing in Florida is part of the legal work; confirm with Florida counsel how it affects legal fees.
• Surrogate health insurance, $5,000 to $40,000, only if her plan excludes surrogacy.
• IVF and clinic fees, paid directly to your clinic.

All of it flows through an independent licensed escrow agent, never through PLS. You fund $10,000 at match and the balance before the surrogate starts medications, and you may choose your own escrow company. The Surro Connections agency collapse in late 2025, followed by a federal indictment in August 2026, and the SEAM escrow failure of more than $16 million are why this matters. PLS has used independent licensed escrow since it opened in 2017.

See the cost of surrogacy for the itemized budget and surrogacy laws by state to compare Florida with other states.

Sources

• Florida gestational surrogacy statute, Florida Legislature. Pending review by Florida counsel.
• Florida pre-planned adoption agreement provisions, Florida Legislature. Pending review by Florida counsel.
• Illinois Gestational Surrogacy Act (2005), Illinois General Assembly. Pending review by counsel.