Is surrogacy legal in Pennsylvania?
Reviewed by counsel [name], [date]. Every statement about Pennsylvania law on this page is pending review by Pennsylvania counsel. Case names and citations are added only after counsel signs off.
Yes. Gestational surrogacy is legal and widely practiced in Pennsylvania, and compensating the surrogate is permitted. Pennsylvania has no surrogacy statute. Its legal footing comes from case law: a 2015 Pennsylvania appellate decision enforced a gestational carrier agreement.
On parentage, Pennsylvania is more predictable than most states without a statute. Courts in most counties issue pre-birth parentage orders to intended parents, including unmarried, single and same-sex parents, with or without a genetic link. A few counties require a post-birth filing instead, so the attorney selects the venue.
Jan Telman Berman, Global Surrogacy Coordinator at Private Label Surrogacy, wrote this page. She has more than 18 years in the field and manages national and international cycles from a women's health clinic background. It describes how a Pennsylvania journey works with PLS. It is not legal advice. Your Pennsylvania reproductive attorney advises you; the surrogate's own attorney advises her.
| Pennsylvania at a glance | |
|---|---|
| Legal basis | Case law, including a 2015 appellate decision enforcing a gestational carrier agreement; no statute |
| Status | Legal by case law; no statute; pre-birth orders in most counties |
| Parentage method | Pre-birth order in most counties |
| Who can be an intended parent | Married, unmarried, single and same-sex parents, with or without a genetic link |
| Surrogate requirements | None set by statute; PLS requires age 21 to 43, BMI under 33, a prior healthy full-term birth and full PLS screening |
| Compensation permitted | Yes |
| PLS recruits here | Yes |
What law governs surrogacy in Pennsylvania?
Case law and court practice, not a statute. Pennsylvania's legislature has not passed a surrogacy statute. In 2015 a Pennsylvania appellate court enforced a gestational carrier agreement, and that decision, together with how county courts handle parentage petitions, is the framework families rely on.
What that means in practice:
- The agreement is enforceable, so write it well. Because a Pennsylvania appellate court has enforced a gestational carrier agreement, the contract is the central document. It covers compensation, medical decisions, insurance, travel and the hospital plan. Each side has its own attorney, and PLS employs neither.
- County practice fills in the rest. Most counties grant pre-birth orders. A few require a post-birth filing. Your attorney decides where to file.
- Case law can be refined. A later court decision or a new statute could change details. Ask your attorney how a change would affect an agreement you have already signed.
PLS arranges gestational surrogacy only. The embryo is created by IVF, and the surrogate is not genetically related to the baby.
How is parentage established in Pennsylvania: pre-birth or post-birth?
In most counties, pre-birth. Pennsylvania courts in most counties issue a pre-birth parentage order naming the intended parents, and they do so for unmarried, single and same-sex parents, with or without a genetic link to the baby.
A few counties require a post-birth filing. Because the attorney selects the venue, most families can plan for a pre-birth order. Ask your attorney early which county they intend to use and why.
What a pre-birth order changes at the hospital: the order exists before labor begins, so the hospital knows who the parents are and who makes decisions for the baby. If your attorney does use a post-birth filing, they set up the hospital plan in advance so there is no question in the meantime.
The genetic link matters less in Pennsylvania than in some other states without a surrogacy statute. Parents using donor eggs, donor sperm or donated embryos can receive a pre-birth order in most counties. For more on the two kinds of order, read pre-birth vs post-birth parentage orders.
Who can be an intended parent in Pennsylvania?
Pennsylvania has no statute that limits who can be an intended parent. Courts in most counties issue pre-birth orders to married and unmarried couples, single parents and same-sex couples, with or without a genetic link.
For most families, then, the question is not eligibility but logistics: which county, what the agreement says, and when the order is filed. A Pennsylvania attorney confirms the plan for your family before you match.
International intended parents should raise one federal issue at the first consultation: an executive order dated August 6, 2026 on citizenship for children born through compensated surrogacy to two non-citizen parents is under litigation. Status as of [date], reviewed by counsel [name].
PLS works with intended parents across the US and abroad and welcomes single parents and same-sex couples on the same terms as anyone else. For a statute-based comparison, see surrogacy in Illinois, PLS's home state. The Illinois Gestational Surrogacy Act (2005) provides for pre-birth parentage, and the Equality for Every Family Act, signed December 2025, removes the genetic-link requirement.
Who can be a surrogate in Pennsylvania?
Pennsylvania sets no surrogate requirements in statute, because it has no surrogacy statute. The standard comes from the agency and the clinic. With PLS, a Pennsylvania surrogate must be 21 to 43, a US citizen or permanent resident, at a BMI under 33, and a non-smoker. She needs at least one healthy full-term pregnancy and a child she is raising now. She cannot be on government assistance, she must live in a stable home, and she cannot be currently taking antidepressants.
Her screening has seven steps:
- Application
- Interview
- Medical records review by Mark Silverberg, DDS, MD
- Background check
- Insurance review
- Psychological evaluation by an independent licensed professional
- Medical screening at your clinic
Dr. Silverberg is PLS's Executive Director, an anesthesiologist with more than 30 years of practice and many obstetric and gynecologic cases. He reads each candidate's prenatal and delivery records himself and writes a physician medical summary that goes to your fertility clinic.
How does PLS work with Pennsylvania surrogates and parents?
PLS recruits Pennsylvania surrogates and matches them with intended parents across the US and abroad. Nancy Block, RN, runs matching herself. She founded PLS in 2017 after 17 years as an OB/GYN and fertility nurse at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, and she is a former president of SEEDS, the Society for Ethics in Egg Donation and Surrogacy.
A Pennsylvania surrogate monitors at a clinic in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh or Harrisburg, then travels to your clinic for screening and transfer. You pay that travel through escrow. Natalie Gaudio-Fricano or Jenni Symons, PLS case managers who have both been surrogates, stays with her to delivery. Julie Bendix, MPH, RD, LD, CLC, a registered dietitian and lactation counselor, holds at least six nutrition consults with her.
From signing, a Pennsylvania journey moves like this. Matching takes about 9 months from signing to surrogate introduction today; PLS's target is 6 or fewer. Legal and medical foundations take 1 to 2 months. During that window your attorney chooses the county and prepares the pre-birth petition. You fund escrow. The medical cycle takes 2 to 3 months and ends in the embryo transfer, with a pregnancy test 9 to 11 days later. Pregnancy and birth follow. In total, plan on 18 to 24 months.
PLS does not employ attorneys, psychologists or escrow agents. It refers you to independent licensed professionals so that each one answers only to the person who hired them.
What does a Pennsylvania journey cost and how is money held?
Intended parents typically spend $150,000 to $200,000 in total, and Pennsylvania does not change PLS's fees or the surrogate's package.
| Cost line | Amount | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| PLS program fee | $35,000 current; $42,000 proposed for new agreements. Program fee: confirm current schedule. | Paid to PLS in three installments |
| Surrogate compensation | Typical total package roughly $68,000 to $78,000 on a $60,000 first-time base (proposed); $65,000 to $70,000 base if experienced | Paid to her from escrow |
| Third-party costs | $15,300 to $29,000 | Both attorneys, escrow, psychological evaluation, background check, insurance review, travel, monitoring |
| Surrogate health insurance | $5,000 to $40,000 | Only if her plan excludes surrogacy |
| IVF and clinic fees | Set by your clinic | Paid directly to the clinic |
See surrogate compensation in Pennsylvania for her package line by line.
An independent licensed escrow agent holds the surrogate's money, never PLS. You fund $10,000 at match and the balance before she 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 that rule matters. PLS has used independent licensed escrow since 2017.
The full budget is on the cost of surrogacy. Compare Pennsylvania with other states on surrogacy laws by state.
Sources
- Pennsylvania appellate decision (2015) enforcing a gestational carrier agreement, and Pennsylvania county court practice on parentage orders. Citation pending review by Pennsylvania counsel.
- Illinois Gestational Surrogacy Act (2005) and Equality for Every Family Act (2025), Illinois General Assembly. Pending review by counsel.
- SEEDS, Society for Ethics in Egg Donation and Surrogacy.