Surrogacy in Maryland
We serve all of Maryland, working with surrogates and intended parents in Baltimore, Annapolis, the Montgomery County suburbs of Bethesda, Silver Spring, and Rockville, Frederick, and the towns in between. No Maryland statute prohibits gestational surrogacy, parentage is settled by court order with your attorneys handling it, and most of the process happens where you live: you apply from home, match from home, and see your own OB for prenatal care, with the first fertility-clinic appointments at our clinic in California. Here is what that actually looks like from Maryland.
- Serving
- All of MarylandBaltimore, Bethesda, Silver Spring, Rockville, Annapolis, Frederick, and beyond
- Helping families since
- 2015Coordinated from our California home office
- The law
- No statute prohibits itMaryland's highest court, 2007; birth-records law, 2021
- Parentage
- Court ordersHandled by your attorneys; the birth certificate follows the order
How surrogacy works when you live in Maryland
The question most Maryland families ask first is the practical one: where does everything actually happen? Almost all of it happens at home, in Baltimore, Bethesda, Rockville, or wherever you are. Here is the honest geography for each side.
Your OB, your hospital, your town
Applying, screening conversations, and records review all happen from home by phone and video. The medical screening and the embryo transfer happen at the fertility clinic in California. Maryland to Southern California is a real cross-country flight, roughly five to six hours in the air, and we say so plainly: a small number of planned trips, booked together, never a relocation.
Once pregnancy is confirmed, everything comes home: your own OB, your own hospital, whether you deliver in Baltimore or Bethesda, with your coordinator a call away the whole time. The full picture is on our become a surrogate page.
One team, coordinated to Maryland
Consultations happen by video, or in person at our California home office when you want a table between you. One coordinator runs the match, the screening, and the clinic, and the legal work is handled by independent attorneys, including counsel who handle Maryland's parentage-order process.
We tell you where each step happens, and who is in the room, before you commit to anything. Start with surrogacy for intended parents.
Surrogacy in Maryland, honestly
"Is Maryland surrogacy friendly?" is how most people put it. The honest answer: no Maryland statute prohibits gestational surrogacy, parentage is settled through the courts, and your attorneys handle the process. The full state-by-state picture lives on our law guide.
This is general information, not legal advice. Your own Maryland attorney confirms how it applies to your match.
Read our full surrogacy law guideMaryland has no statute written for surrogacy agreements, and no statute prohibits gestational surrogacy. Its highest court ruled in 2007 that a court can order a birth certificate in a gestational surrogacy case that does not list the surrogate as the mother, and since 2021 the state's birth-records law spells out how a birth certificate is issued when a court decides parentage in a gestational carrier birth. Agreements are drafted before any medical steps with independent counsel on each side.
When a court enters a parentage order in a gestational surrogacy case, the birth certificate is registered according to that order, so intended parents can be named from the start, and your attorneys handle that process. Maryland's parentage laws are written without regard to gender and cover children conceived through assisted reproduction, including with donor eggs, sperm, or embryos, whether the parents are married, unmarried, or single.
A note on accuracy. We work in gestational surrogacy only, where the surrogate is not genetically related to the child. Because Maryland has no statute written for surrogacy agreements themselves, the drafting and the counsel matter; always confirm your specifics with a Maryland-licensed reproductive attorney.
Requirements to become a surrogate in Maryland
These are the general guidelines most surrogacy programs follow, ours included. Read them as a starting point rather than a verdict; the deciding step is always a conversation and a medical review.
Are between about 21 and 38 years oldThe range can flex based on your health history.
Have given birth before and are raising a child of your ownAgencies and clinics look for prior pregnancy experience.
Had healthy, full-term pregnancies and deliveriesReviewed with your medical records during screening.
Are in good general healthConfirmed through a clinic medical evaluation.
Live in a stable home with reliable supportA partner, family, or friends you can lean on.
Do not smoke or use illicit drugsAsked about and reviewed as part of screening.
Are a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent residentHelps keep the legal process clean and predictable.
Have a stable income, not relying on cash assistanceSo compensation is genuinely yours to keep.
Screening is the same everywhere we work. Maryland adds no statutory checklist of its own, so what carries the weight is the screening itself: your records, a clinic evaluation, and psychological screening, done in that order and explained as we go.
How much do surrogates make in Maryland is one of the most-searched surrogacy questions in the state, and here is how it works: Maryland has no statute that sets surrogacy compensation, so what you receive is set out in your agreement, with independent counsel on each side, before any medications begin, and shaped by your situation. Other agencies post headline numbers; we would rather have the conversation with you personally, so the number you hear is actually yours.
A c-section in your history? A tubal ligation, anxiety, or PCOS? Usually not the end of the story, and never a reason to be turned away unheard. Our surrogate eligibility guide takes those questions one condition at a time, the become a surrogate page covers the whole arc, or simply reach out.
Building your family from Baltimore, Bethesda, or Rockville
From Maryland, working with us means one coordinated team: the match, the screening, the clinic, and the independent legal work, all run by one person you know by name. Here is what that means in practice.
Remote first, in person when you want
Video consultations fit around work and family; when you would rather meet in person, the California home office is a nonstop flight from Baltimore or the DC-area airports. The step-by-step arc is on our how surrogacy works page.
Counsel who handle Maryland's parentage orders
Your agreement is drafted and reviewed by independent attorneys, and because Maryland's birth-records law registers the birth certificate according to a court's parentage order in a gestational surrogacy birth, your attorneys handle that order so you are named on the birth certificate from the start. Your attorneys carry that process so you do not have to.
Every kind of family, welcomed
Maryland's parentage laws are written without regard to gender, and we welcome married, unmarried, LGBTQ+, and single intended parents, and families using donor eggs, sperm, or embryos, with experienced Maryland counsel handling the parentage path. See how we support LGBTQ+ families.
Clear costs before you commit
We post no price lists and spring no surprises. Before you commit, we walk what shapes the total and put a personalized estimate in writing for your situation. Our surrogacy costs guide shows how that conversation works.
How does surrogacy work in Maryland?
Six steps, the same order every time, at the pace your match sets. Here is the road from first call to homecoming.
First conversation and application
By phone or video from anywhere in Maryland. Surrogates begin an application; intended parents talk goals, timing, and the kind of relationship they hope to have with their surrogate. Nothing medical yet.
Screening, remote first
Records review and psychological screening are arranged around your schedule, mostly from home. The in-person clinic evaluation is one of the planned California trips, with dates you will know well in advance.
Matching
We introduce a surrogate and intended parents who fit each other on values, expectations, communication style, and the practical things, like contact during pregnancy and views on tough medical decisions. You decide together whether to move forward.
Legal contracts with independent counsel
Each side retains its own attorney, and the gestational agreement is completed and signed before any medications begin. This is also when compensation and expenses go into writing.
Embryo transfer and pregnancy
The California clinic handles the medical cycle and the transfer. Then Maryland takes over: your own OB, your own hospital, your own bed, from the first heartbeat appointment to delivery, with your coordinator close to both sides throughout.
Parentage and birth
Your attorneys obtain the court order establishing parentage so the intended parents are named on the birth certificate, and when the baby arrives the family goes home together.
A California team, honest about the miles
Our home office is in Rancho Cucamonga, California, and we would rather say that plainly than pretend a Baltimore or Bethesda storefront. Maryland is a genuine cross-country flight away, so the program is built for it: phone and video for everything except the clinic steps, scheduled around your work and your kids, with trips planned well ahead and a coordinator who runs cross-state matches every day.
When you reach out, a real person calls you back and stays your person from then on, whether home is a Baltimore rowhouse, a Montgomery County suburb, or a street in Annapolis. The only steps that bring you to California are the clinic ones.
11989 Arrow Route, Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91739
(626) 528-6868
Maryland surrogacy, answered
Is surrogacy legal in Maryland?
No Maryland statute prohibits gestational surrogacy. Parentage is settled through the courts: Maryland's highest court ruled in 2007 that a court can order a birth certificate that does not list the surrogate as the mother, and the state's birth-records law provides for the birth certificate to follow a court's parentage order.
Agreements are drafted with independent counsel on each side. For the state-by-state picture, see our surrogacy law guide.
Can intended parents get a pre-birth order in Maryland?
Parentage in a Maryland gestational surrogacy case is settled by court order, and your attorneys handle the process. The state's birth-records law provides for that order to be attached when the birth is registered, which happens within days of the birth, so your attorneys work out the timing for your match.
There is no statute written for surrogacy agreements themselves, so the process runs through the courts. Depth lives on our surrogacy law guide.
What are the requirements to become a surrogate in Maryland?
Roughly: 21 to 38 years old, at least one healthy birth, a child you are raising now, good general health, no smoking, and a stable, supported home.
Maryland adds no statutory baseline of its own, so those program guidelines plus medical and psychological screening carry the decision. Every application is read by a person, not a filter; the surrogate eligibility guide handles the condition-by-condition questions.
Do I have to travel to California?
Yes, for the fertility-clinic milestones: the screening evaluation and the embryo transfer happen at the clinic in California.
Those are planned trips we book together, well in advance. Everything else, the application, the screening conversations, your prenatal care, and the delivery, stays home in Maryland with your own OB and hospital.
How do intended parents in Baltimore or the DC suburbs get started?
With a conversation. Consultations run by video, or at the California home office if you prefer to meet in person.
From there one coordinator manages the match, the screening, the clinic, and the independent legal work. Begin with surrogacy for intended parents or the how surrogacy works guide.
Get started in Maryland
It starts with a conversation, from wherever you are in Maryland. We listen first, then show you exactly what comes next.