How much does a first-time surrogate earn in Pennsylvania?
A typical total package of roughly $68,000 to $78,000. That is what a first-time gestational surrogate in Pennsylvania receives through Private Label Surrogacy, built on $60,000 base compensation (proposed, up from $55,000). An experienced surrogate, one who has completed a surrogacy before, has a base of $65,000 to $70,000.
Base compensation is the largest piece, but on its own it understates what you receive, which is why the total comes first. All PLS figures on this page are pending final confirmation by Nancy Block, RN, and stay marked until she confirms them.
Your base is the same whether you live near Philadelphia, Pittsburgh or Harrisburg, and the same as a PLS surrogate's in Illinois. Pennsylvania affects two other things: how the intended parents' attorney establishes parentage, and which clinic you use for monitoring.
Natalie Gaudio-Fricano, a PLS case manager, wrote this page. She donated eggs three times, then became a gestational surrogate and 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 single baby with the standard allowances and milestone payments. Your own number rises or falls with the length of the journey, whether you pump after delivery, and your documented lost wages.
| Item | Amount | Trigger | Timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base, first journey | $60,000 (proposed) | Pregnancy confirmed with a heartbeat | Installments across the pregnancy |
| Base, experienced | $65,000 to $70,000 | Pregnancy confirmed with a heartbeat | Installments across the pregnancy |
| Monthly allowance | $300 per month | Agreement signed | Monthly |
| Medication start | $500 | First injectable medications | At medication start |
| Embryo transfer | $1,000 | Each transfer | On transfer day |
| Maternity clothing | $750; $1,000 for multiples | Pregnancy confirmed | Once |
| Housekeeping | $90 per week | From 32 weeks | Weekly until delivery |
| Pumping | $200 per week | Choosing to pump after delivery | Weekly |
| Twins | Plus $5,000 | Twin pregnancy confirmed | With base installments |
| Triplets | Plus $10,000 | Triplet 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 the intended parents |
Payment triggers and timing: confirm schedule with Nancy.
Some costs are covered for you but are not compensation, so they are not in the table:
- Travel to the intended parents' clinic. Escrow pays flights, hotel, meals, mileage, child care, and lost wages for you and a companion.
- Your own attorney. The intended parents pay for an attorney who represents only you.
- Health insurance. If your plan excludes surrogacy, the intended parents buy a dedicated policy.
- Mental-health support from independent licensed professionals.
- Nutrition support. Julie Bendix, MPH, RD, LD, CLC, a registered dietitian and lactation counselor, holds at least six consults with you across the journey.
When is each payment made and who holds the money?
| Stage | What is paid |
|---|---|
| You sign the agreement | $300 monthly allowance begins |
| You start injectable medications | $500 |
| Each embryo transfer | $1,000 |
| Heartbeat confirmed | Base installments begin; maternity clothing payment |
| 32 weeks | $90 a week housekeeping begins |
| After delivery | Final base installment; $200 a week if you pump |
If a transfer does not produce a pregnancy, you keep the allowance, the medication-start payment and the transfer fee already paid. Base compensation is tied to a confirmed pregnancy.
The money is held by an independent licensed escrow agent, never by PLS. The intended parents fund $10,000 at match and the balance before your medications begin. Escrow pays you on the schedule in your agreement. Before your first injection, have your attorney confirm in writing that the account is fully funded.
Agency failures are why this matters. 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. In 2025 and 2026, PLS took on three surrogates, pro bono, who were stranded when their agencies failed. Read how escrow works.
What are the requirements to become a surrogate in Pennsylvania?
PLS uses one set of criteria nationwide. To apply from Pennsylvania, you must be:
- 21 to 43 years old
- A US citizen or permanent resident
- At a BMI under 33
- Someone with at least one healthy full-term pregnancy who 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, records review, background check, insurance review, a psychological evaluation by an independent licensed professional, and medical screening at the intended parents' clinic. Mark Silverberg, DDS, MD, does the records review himself, reading your prenatal and delivery records and writing a physician medical summary for the clinic. Screening takes several weeks once your records arrive.
Where do Pennsylvania surrogates do monitoring and transfer?
Pennsylvania surrogates matched through PLS do their monitoring at a clinic in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh or Harrisburg. If you live outside those areas, your nearest monitoring option is being confirmed. Monitoring is the bloodwork and ultrasounds before transfer and in early pregnancy. The intended parents pay for it.
For medical screening and the transfer, you travel to the intended parents' fertility clinic, which may be in another state. A companion can come with you, and escrow covers the trip, meals, child care and lost wages. Your pregnancy test is 9 to 11 days after the transfer.
When the fertility clinic releases you, you move to your own OB near home and deliver at a local hospital.
What does Pennsylvania law mean for you as a surrogate?
Gestational surrogacy is legal and widely practiced in Pennsylvania, and compensation is permitted. Pennsylvania has no surrogacy statute, but a 2015 Pennsylvania appellate decision enforced a gestational carrier agreement. Courts in most counties issue pre-birth parentage orders to the intended parents; a few counties require a post-birth filing.
This summary is pending review by Pennsylvania counsel.
Two points follow for you. First, the agreement you sign is the kind of contract a Pennsylvania appellate court has enforced, so the payment terms in it carry weight. That is why your own attorney, paid by the intended parents and working only for you, reviews it before anything medical starts. Second, in most counties the intended parents' pre-birth order is on file before you deliver, so the hospital already knows who the parents are. See the intended-parent side on surrogacy in Pennsylvania.
How to apply with PLS
- Take the eligibility check for the criteria above.
- Apply and interview with a PLS case manager.
- Send your records for Dr. Silverberg's review.
- 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.
Your case manager from match to delivery is Natalie or Jenni Symons, both former surrogates. Compare packages on surrogate compensation in Illinois or on the national surrogate compensation page.
Sources
- PLS compensation schedule (proposed), pending confirmation by Nancy Block, RN.
- Pennsylvania appellate decision (2015) enforcing a gestational carrier agreement, and county court practice on parentage orders. Citation pending review by Pennsylvania counsel.