How much does a first-time surrogate earn in Oregon?
A first-time gestational surrogate in Oregon matched through Private Label Surrogacy receives a typical total package of roughly $68,000 to $78,000, built on $60,000 base compensation (proposed, up from $55,000). If you have carried for another family before, your base is $65,000 to $70,000.
Oregon surrogates have one practical advantage: the transfer clinic may be close to home. Many Oregon surrogates matched through PLS transfer at Oregon Reproductive Medicine in Portland, one of PLS's 14 partner fertility centers. The compensation itself is the same as in every other state where PLS recruits.
You may also carry for a family from abroad. Oregon has long drawn international intended parents. Natalie Gaudio-Fricano, the PLS case manager who wrote this page, did exactly that: after donating eggs three times, she carried a boy for an international couple and delivered him in October 2016, following a first-transfer success. She has worked in medicine since 2002. PLS figures on this page are pending final confirmation by Nancy Block, RN.
What is in the full compensation package?
| What | How much | When it starts |
|---|---|---|
| Base compensation, first-time | $60,000 (proposed) | After a heartbeat is confirmed; paid in installments |
| Base compensation, experienced | $65,000 to $70,000 | After a heartbeat is confirmed; paid in installments |
| Monthly allowance | $300 per month | At signing; paid monthly |
| Medication start | $500 | When injectable medications begin |
| Embryo transfer | $1,000 per transfer | On the day of each transfer |
| Maternity clothing | $750; $1,000 for multiples | Once pregnancy is confirmed; paid once |
| Housekeeping | $90 per week | At 32 weeks; paid weekly |
| Pumping support | $200 per week | After delivery, if you choose to pump; paid weekly |
| Twins or triplets | $5,000 for twins; $10,000 for triplets | When a multiple pregnancy is confirmed; paid with base installments |
| Lost wages, you and your partner | Actual documented wages | Whenever the journey takes you off work; paid as incurred |
| Life insurance | Extended policy up to $750,000 | Before transfer; premium paid by the intended parents |
Payment triggers and timing: confirm schedule with Nancy.
"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, and your documented lost wages.
Some of the package arrives before you are pregnant. From signing to transfer usually takes about 3 to 5 months: 1 to 2 months for legal and medical foundations and 2 to 3 months for the medical cycle. At $300 a month, that is $900 to $1,500 in allowance, plus $500 at medication start and $1,000 at transfer, or roughly $2,400 to $3,000 by transfer day.
Beyond payments, the intended parents cover your travel to their clinic from escrow: flights, hotel, meals, mileage, child care and lost wages for you and a companion. They also pay for your attorney, your monitoring and, if your plan excludes surrogacy, a dedicated health policy. You get mental-health support from independent licensed professionals and at least six nutrition consults with Julie Bendix, MPH, RD, LD, CLC, a registered dietitian and lactation counselor.
When is each payment made and who holds the money?
Payments track the journey. The monthly allowance starts at signing, the $500 medication-start payment follows your first injection, and $1,000 is paid at each transfer. Base compensation begins in installments once a heartbeat is confirmed and continues through the pregnancy. Housekeeping support starts at 32 weeks, and the final base installment and any pumping support follow delivery.
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.
The money does not sit with PLS. The intended parents fund an independent licensed escrow agent, $10,000 at match and the balance before your medications start, and the escrow agent pays you under your agreement. For an international family, that also means the funds are already in a US escrow account before you begin.
Why it matters: 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. PLS has used independent licensed escrow since 2017, and in 2025 and 2026 it 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 Oregon?
Oregon has no surrogacy statute, so the state does not set its own surrogate requirements. PLS requires that you 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 runs 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. Dr. Silverberg reads your prenatal and delivery records himself. Plan on several weeks once your records arrive.
Where do Oregon surrogates do monitoring and transfer?
Oregon surrogates matched through PLS monitor locally in Portland, Eugene or Bend. Monitoring is the bloodwork and ultrasounds in the weeks before transfer and in early pregnancy. The intended parents pay for it.
Transfers often happen at Oregon Reproductive Medicine in Portland. If the intended parents use a different clinic, you travel there instead, for medical screening and then the transfer. Either way, a companion can come with you and escrow pays. Your 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 Oregon law mean for you as a surrogate?
Gestational surrogacy is legal and well established in Oregon, and compensation is permitted. There is no statute; instead, Oregon courts have consistently issued pre-birth parentage judgments for decades. The judgment names the intended parents before the baby is born, so you are not named as a parent.
Without a statute, your agreement carries the detail. Your own attorney, paid by the intended parents, reviews your compensation, expenses, insurance and medical decision-making terms before you sign. Confirm the current practice with Oregon counsel; this summary is pending review. The intended-parent side is on surrogacy in Oregon.
How to apply with PLS
- Check eligibility against the list above.
- Apply and interview with a case manager.
- Send your records to Dr. Silverberg for review.
- Finish screening: background check, insurance review, 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.
Natalie or Jenni Symons, also a former surrogate, then stays with you through delivery. Compare packages on the national surrogate compensation page or on surrogate compensation in Illinois.
Sources
- Oregon court practice on gestational surrogacy and pre-birth parentage judgments (no surrogacy statute). Pending review by Oregon counsel.
- Private Label Surrogacy surrogate compensation schedule, pending confirmation by Nancy Block, RN.