Is surrogacy legal in New Jersey?
Reviewed by counsel [name], [date]. Statements about New Jersey law on this page await review by New Jersey counsel, and no statute numbers appear until counsel signs off.
Yes, for gestational surrogacy. Compensated gestational surrogacy is legal in New Jersey under the New Jersey Gestational Carrier Agreement Act, in force since 2018. Traditional surrogacy, where the surrogate's own egg is used, remains unenforceable.
That split is the first thing to understand about New Jersey. The state treats the two kinds of surrogacy very differently. In gestational surrogacy, the embryo is created through IVF from the intended parents' or donors' eggs and sperm, and the surrogate has no genetic link to the child. That is the only kind of surrogacy Private Label Surrogacy arranges, in New Jersey or anywhere else.
Jan Telman Berman wrote this page. As PLS's Global Surrogacy Coordinator, with more than 18 years in the field, Jan manages national and international cycles. This page is not legal advice. Your own New Jersey reproductive attorney advises you, and the surrogate's own attorney advises her.
| New Jersey at a glance | |
|---|---|
| Legal basis | New Jersey Gestational Carrier Agreement Act, in force since 2018 |
| Status | Legal by statute since 2018; pre-birth orders; traditional surrogacy unenforceable |
| Parentage method | Pre-birth parentage order under the Act |
| Who can be an intended parent | Any marital status, sexual orientation or genetic connection |
| Surrogate requirements | At least 21; has given birth before; medical and psychological evaluations completed; independent counsel; agreement signed before medications. PLS adds its own criteria and seven-step screening. |
| Compensation permitted | Yes, for gestational surrogacy |
| PLS recruits here | Yes |
What law governs surrogacy in New Jersey?
The New Jersey Gestational Carrier Agreement Act, in force since 2018, governs gestational surrogacy in New Jersey. It makes a gestational carrier agreement enforceable when the parties meet its conditions.
Read as a checklist, the conditions are:
- The surrogate is at least 21 years old.
- She has given birth before.
- She has completed a medical evaluation and a psychological evaluation.
- The surrogate and the intended parents each have independent legal counsel.
- The agreement is signed before any medications begin.
The order of events is the practical point. Nothing medical starts until the contract is signed. On a PLS journey that sequence is already the rule in every state: the agreement is signed, escrow is funded, and only then does the clinic start the surrogate's medications.
The Act does not make traditional surrogacy agreements enforceable. If a surrogate would provide her own egg, a New Jersey agreement cannot be relied on to settle parentage. If you need donor eggs, they come from a separate egg donor, never from your surrogate.
Confirm the current statutory requirements, and any residency rules, with New Jersey counsel before signing.
How is parentage established in New Jersey: pre-birth or post-birth?
Pre-birth. When the Act's conditions are met, intended parents receive a pre-birth parentage order that names them as the child's parents before delivery.
The order is available whether or not either intended parent has a genetic connection to the child. A family using donor eggs, donor sperm or a donated embryo follows the same route as a family using its own.
Over the pregnancy, the steps usually run like this:
- Before medications. The agreement is signed, with each side represented by its own attorney, as the Act requires.
- During the pregnancy. Your New Jersey attorney prepares and files for the parentage order so it is in hand before the due date.
- Before labor. PLS works with the delivering hospital on a birth plan, so staff know who the parents are, who goes into the delivery room and how discharge works.
- At birth. The hospital already holds the order and the plan.
Compare this with states that settle parentage only after delivery, where intended parents wait on a court date or, for some families, an adoption. Pre-birth vs post-birth parentage orders explains the difference in detail.
Who can be an intended parent in New Jersey?
Under the Act, intended parents of any marital status, sexual orientation or genetic connection can receive a pre-birth parentage order.
In practice that covers:
- Married couples and unmarried couples
- Single women and single men
- Two fathers and two mothers
- Parents using donor eggs, donor sperm or a donated embryo
- Parents with embryos from their own IVF cycle who need a gestational carrier for medical reasons
Confirm with New Jersey counsel whether an intended parent or the surrogate must live in New Jersey, and how the Act applies to intended parents who live in another state or outside the US.
PLS runs one process for every family: the same consultation, matching and escrow rules. Your attorney confirms the legal path for your family before you sign.
Who can be a surrogate in New Jersey?
New Jersey sets a legal floor. PLS sets its own criteria on top of it.
The Act requires a New Jersey surrogate to be at least 21, to have given birth before, and to have completed medical and psychological evaluations.
To apply with PLS, a surrogate must also 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
PLS 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. The independent psychological evaluation and the clinic's medical screening are intended to satisfy the Act's evaluation requirements; New Jersey counsel will confirm this for each agreement.
Dr. Silverberg, an anesthesiologist with more than 30 years of practice and many obstetric cases, reads every candidate's prenatal and delivery records himself. He writes a physician medical summary that goes to the intended parents' fertility clinic.
How does PLS work with New Jersey surrogates and parents?
PLS recruits New Jersey surrogates and matches them with intended parents from across the US and abroad. Intended parents who live in New Jersey can also match with a surrogate in another state where PLS recruits.
Nancy Block, RN, founded PLS in 2017 and runs matching herself. She spent 17 years as an OB/GYN and fertility nurse at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
Today, signing to surrogate introduction takes about 9 months, against a target of 6 months or fewer. Legal and medical foundations take another 1 to 2 months; this is when both New Jersey attorneys review the agreement and you fund escrow. The medical cycle takes 2 to 3 months and ends with the embryo transfer. The pregnancy test comes 9 to 11 days later. Start to finish, most journeys take 18 to 24 months.
The New Jersey cities where PLS surrogates do local monitoring are being confirmed. Monitoring, meaning the bloodwork and ultrasounds before transfer and in early pregnancy, happens near the surrogate's home. She travels to your fertility clinic for screening and transfer. PLS has 14 partner fertility centers, including Kindbody and Shady Grove Fertility, and you may use any clinic you choose.
Once matched, a PLS case manager stays with the surrogate through delivery. Natalie Gaudio-Fricano and Jenni Symons, the case managers who carry the active matches, are both former surrogates. Julie Bendix, MPH, RD, LD, CLC, holds at least six nutrition consults with each surrogate.
The Act requires independent counsel for each side. PLS reached the same position on its own: it does not employ attorneys, psychologists or escrow staff. It refers each side to independent licensed professionals, so each one answers only to the person they serve.
What does a New Jersey journey cost and how is money held?
PLS's own fees and the surrogate's compensation do not change because the surrogate lives in New Jersey. Most intended parents budget $150,000 to $200,000 in total. Itemized, the PLS-related costs come to about $112,000 to $127,000 before IVF and any new insurance policy.
- 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. The full schedule is on surrogate compensation in New Jersey.
- Third-party costs, $15,300 to $29,000. This covers both attorneys, escrow, the psychological evaluation, the background check, the insurance review, travel and local monitoring.
- Surrogate health insurance, $5,000 to $40,000, only if her own plan excludes surrogacy.
- IVF and clinic fees, paid directly to your clinic.
The money sits with an independent licensed escrow agent, not with PLS. You fund $10,000 at match and the balance before the surrogate starts medications. You may choose your own escrow company. The escrow agent pays the surrogate and third parties under the terms of the agreement.
This is not a formality. The Surro Connections agency collapsed in late 2025 and a federal indictment followed in August 2026; the SEAM escrow failure involved more than $16 million. PLS has used independent licensed escrow since 2017.
For the full budget, see the cost of surrogacy. To compare New Jersey with other states, see surrogacy laws by state.
Sources
- New Jersey Gestational Carrier Agreement Act (in force since 2018), New Jersey Legislature. Pending review by New Jersey counsel.
- Private Label Surrogacy program fee and compensation schedule, pending confirmation by Nancy Block, RN.