Surrogacy in Minnesota
We serve all of Minnesota, working with surrogates and intended parents in Minneapolis, St. Paul, Rochester, Duluth, St. Cloud, and the towns in between. Minnesota has no surrogacy statute, and gestational surrogacy is carried out here through the courts and written agreements, with most of the process happening where you live: you apply from home, match from home, and see your own OB for prenatal care, with a small number of trips to the fertility clinic in California. Here is what that actually looks like from Minnesota.
- Serving
- All of MinnesotaMinneapolis, St. Paul, Rochester, Duluth, St. Cloud, and beyond
- Helping families since
- 2015Coordinated from our California home office
- The law
- No state statuteGestational surrogacy runs on court practice
- Parentage
- Planned by your attorneysPre-birth or post-birth, by county
How surrogacy works when you live in Minnesota
Most Minnesotans start with two questions: is this okay here, and where does everything actually happen? Almost all of it happens at home. 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 first fertility-clinic appointments, the medical evaluation and the embryo transfer, happen at the fertility clinic in California. Minnesota to Southern California is a real cross-country flight, roughly four hours nonstop from Minneapolis-St. Paul, 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 the Twin Cities or Rochester, with your coordinator a call away the whole time. The full picture is on our become a surrogate page.
One team, coordinated to Minnesota
Consultations happen by video, or in person at our California home office when you would rather have 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 plans the Minnesota parentage work your match needs.
We tell you where each step happens, and who is in the room, before you commit to anything. Start with surrogacy for intended parents.
Where Minnesota stands
"Is Minnesota surrogacy friendly?" is how most people ask it. The honest answer is that families build here through gestational surrogacy every year, even though the state has no surrogacy statute, and the full state-by-state picture lives on our law guide.
This is general information, not legal advice. Your own Minnesota attorney confirms how it applies to your match.
Read our full surrogacy law guideMinnesota has no surrogacy statute. Gestational surrogacy is carried out here through the courts and written agreements rather than a law on the books, and Minnesota courts have upheld surrogacy agreements. Agreements are drafted before any medical steps, with independent counsel on each side.
Parentage orders are obtained through your attorneys, and here is the honest detail most pages gloss over: whether the order comes before or after the birth depends on the county where it is filed. Many Minnesota counties grant a parentage order before birth, some do not, and your attorneys plan the right path for your county. Either way the destination is the same, the intended parents recognized as the parents and the paperwork done properly.
A note on accuracy. We work in gestational surrogacy only, where the surrogate is not genetically related to the child. Because Minnesota's framework rests on court practice rather than a statute, the drafting and the counsel matter; always confirm your specifics with a Minnesota-licensed reproductive attorney.
Requirements to become a surrogate in Minnesota
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. Minnesota 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.
About pay, because it is a question every surrogate asks: compensation is real, it is written into your agreement before any medications begin, and it is shaped by your situation. Other agencies lead with 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 the Twin Cities, Rochester, or Duluth
Choosing an agency is most of the decision, and it is where Minnesota families spend the most time. From here, 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 direct flight from Minneapolis-St. Paul. The step-by-step arc is on our how surrogacy works page.
Counsel who plan the county-appropriate path
Your agreement is drafted and reviewed by independent attorneys, and the parentage order is planned around the county where it will be filed, before birth where that is the local practice and after birth where it is not. Your attorneys carry that map so you do not have to.
Every kind of family, welcomed
We welcome married, unmarried, LGBTQ+, and single intended parents, and experienced Minnesota counsel maps the right parentage path for your family from the start. 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 through 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 Minnesota?
Six steps, the same order every time, at the pace your match sets. Here is the road from first call to homecoming.
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First conversation and application
By phone or video from anywhere in Minnesota. Surrogates begin an application; intended parents talk goals, timing, and the kind of relationship they hope to have with their surrogate. Nothing medical yet.
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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.
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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.
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Legal contracts with independent counsel
Each side retains its own attorney, and the gestational agreement is completed and signed before any medications begin. Where there is no statute, the agreement is the foundation, and this is also when compensation and expenses go into writing.
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Embryo transfer and pregnancy
The California clinic handles the medical cycle and the transfer. Then Minnesota 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.
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Parentage and birth
Your attorneys complete the parentage work, timed to your county's practice, so that when the baby arrives the intended parents are recognized as the parents and 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 Minneapolis storefront. Minnesota is a genuine 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 St. Paul neighborhood, a street in Rochester, or a lake town north of Duluth. The only steps that bring you to California are the clinic ones.
11989 Arrow Route, Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91739
(626) 528-6868
Minnesota surrogacy, answered
Is surrogacy legal in Minnesota?
Yes. Minnesota has no surrogacy statute, but gestational surrogacy is practiced across the state through written agreements and the courts, and Minnesota courts have upheld surrogacy agreements.
Agreements are drafted with independent counsel on each side, and parentage orders are obtained through your attorneys. For the state-by-state picture, see our surrogacy law guide.
Is Minnesota a surrogacy-friendly state?
Families build here through gestational surrogacy every year. There is no statute, Minnesota courts have upheld surrogacy agreements, and many counties grant a parentage order before birth.
Because there is no statute, the parentage path is planned county by county, and your attorneys handle that. The depth lives on our surrogacy law guide.
What are the requirements to become a surrogate in Minnesota?
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.
Minnesota 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 exactly two kinds of milestones: the clinic evaluation and the embryo transfer, which happen at the fertility 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 Minnesota with your own OB and hospital.
How do intended parents in the Twin Cities or Rochester get started?
Call or write, and tell us where you are: whether you have embryos, what your timing looks like, and what you want this to feel like.
Consultations run by video, or at the California home office if you prefer to meet in person, and 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 Minnesota
It starts with a conversation, from wherever you are in Minnesota. We listen first, then show you exactly what comes next.