How much does a first-time surrogate earn in New York?
A first-time gestational surrogate in New York matched through Private Label Surrogacy will receive a typical total package of roughly $68,000 to $78,000. The package is built on $60,000 base compensation (proposed, up from $55,000). An experienced surrogate, one who has completed a surrogacy before, receives $65,000 to $70,000 base.
One thing to know first: PLS is applying for the New York program license that the Child-Parent Security Act requires of surrogacy agencies. Until the license is granted, PLS cannot match New York residents. You can join the New York waitlist now, and this package applies once you are matched.
PLS leads with the total because base compensation alone understates what you receive. Every PLS figure on this page is pending final confirmation by Nancy Block, RN, and is marked that way until confirmed. The base is the same in every state where PLS works.
This page is written by Natalie Gaudio-Fricano, a PLS case manager. She was a three-time egg donor, then a gestational surrogate who delivered a boy for an international couple in October 2016 after a first-transfer success. She has worked in medicine since 2002.
What is in the full compensation package?
"Typical" means a singleton pregnancy with the usual allowances and milestone payments. Your own total depends on how long the journey runs, whether you pump after delivery, and your documented lost wages.
| Item | Amount | Trigger | When paid |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base compensation, first-time | $60,000 (proposed) | Pregnancy confirmed with a heartbeat | In installments through the pregnancy |
| Base compensation, experienced | $65,000 to $70,000 | Pregnancy confirmed with a heartbeat | In installments through the pregnancy |
| Monthly allowance | $300 per month | Contract signing | Monthly |
| Medication start | $500 | Starting injectable medications | At medication start |
| Embryo transfer | $1,000 | Each transfer | At transfer |
| Maternity clothing | $750; $1,000 for multiples | Pregnancy confirmed | Once |
| Housekeeping | $90 per week | From 32 weeks | Weekly |
| Breast milk pumping | $200 per week | If you choose to pump after delivery | Weekly |
| Twins | $5,000 added | Multiple pregnancy confirmed | With base installments |
| Triplets | $10,000 added | Multiple pregnancy confirmed | With base installments |
| Lost wages, you and your partner | Actual documented wages | Journey-related time off | As incurred |
| Life insurance | Extended policy up to $750,000 | Before transfer | Premium paid by intended parents |
Payment triggers and timing: confirm schedule with Nancy.
A worked example for a typical singleton journey: base compensation $60,000; monthly allowance of $300 for about 12 to 14 months, $3,600 to $4,200; medication start $500; one transfer $1,000; maternity clothing $750; housekeeping from 32 to 40 weeks, about $720. That is roughly $66,500 to $67,200 before lost wages and pumping support.
Travel is paid on top of compensation. When you travel to the intended parents' clinic, they pay from escrow for flights, hotel, meals, mileage, child care and lost wages for you and a companion.
The package includes support as well: mental-health support from independent licensed professionals; at least six nutrition consults with Julie Bendix, MPH, RD, LD, CLC, a registered dietitian and lactation counselor; your own attorney, paid by the intended parents; and a dedicated health policy, bought by the intended parents, if your plan excludes surrogacy.
When is each payment made and who holds the money?
Payments follow the milestones of the journey:
- Contract signing. Your monthly allowance begins.
- Medication start. $500 when you begin injectable medications.
- Embryo transfer. $1,000 for each transfer.
- Confirmed pregnancy. Base compensation begins in installments after a heartbeat is confirmed.
- 32 weeks. Housekeeping support starts.
- After delivery. Final base installment and, if you pump, weekly pumping support.
If a transfer does not result in a pregnancy, you keep the transfer fee, the medication-start payment and the allowance already earned; base compensation is tied to pregnancy.
An independent licensed escrow agent holds the money, never PLS. The intended parents fund $10,000 at match and the balance before your medications start. The escrow agent pays you according to your agreement, and your attorney can confirm the account is funded before you sign.
That separation is your protection. The Surro Connections agency collapsed in late 2025, leading to a federal indictment in August 2026, and the SEAM escrow failure involved more than $16 million. In 2025 and 2026, PLS took on three surrogates, pro bono, who were stranded when their agencies failed. See how escrow works.
What are the requirements to become a surrogate in New York?
To apply with PLS 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
New York's Child-Parent Security Act separately requires a surrogate to be at least 21 and a US citizen or permanent resident.
Screening has seven steps: application, interview, 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. Screening takes several weeks once your records arrive.
Where do New York surrogates do monitoring and transfer?
Monitoring is the bloodwork and ultrasounds before the transfer and in early pregnancy. Every PLS surrogate does it at a clinic near home, paid by the intended parents. The New York monitoring clinics PLS will use are being confirmed as part of the license application.
For the medical screening and the embryo transfer, you travel to the intended parents' fertility clinic. A companion can come with you, and travel, child care and lost wages are paid through escrow. The pregnancy test is 9 to 11 days after the transfer.
After the fertility clinic releases you, your prenatal care continues with your own OB near home, and you deliver at a local hospital.
What does New York law mean for you as a surrogate?
Compensated gestational surrogacy has been legal in New York since February 15, 2021, under the Child-Parent Security Act. The Act's Surrogates' Bill of Rights gives you independent counsel paid by the intended parents, health insurance, the right to make your own medical decisions, and life insurance. The intended parents obtain a pre-birth parentage order. Agencies operating in New York must be licensed by the state.
Confirm the current New York requirements with New York counsel; this summary is pending review.
Most of those protections are already standard on a PLS journey in every state: your own attorney, a reviewed or dedicated health policy, and life insurance. The licensing rule is the reason PLS is not yet matching New York residents. The intended-parent side is on surrogacy in New York.
How to apply with PLS
- Join the New York waitlist. PLS will contact you when its New York license is granted.
- Take the eligibility check to see whether you meet the criteria above.
- Apply and interview with a PLS case manager.
- Send your records. Dr. Silverberg reads them and writes a physician medical summary for the intended parents' clinic.
- Finish screening: background check, insurance review and the independent psychological evaluation.
- Match. Nancy Block runs matching herself. Matching averages about 6 months and depends on intended-parent demand for your state and profile.
Once matched, Natalie or fellow case manager Jenni Symons, also a former surrogate, stays with you through delivery. Compare packages on the national surrogate compensation page or on surrogate compensation in Illinois.
Sources
- Child-Parent Security Act (in force February 15, 2021), New York State Legislature. Pending review by New York counsel.