Surrogacy in New Jersey
We serve all of New Jersey, working with surrogates and intended parents in Newark, Jersey City, Paterson, Elizabeth, Edison, and Camden, and the towns in between. Since 2018, gestational surrogacy has been written into New Jersey law through the Gestational Carrier Agreement Act, 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 a small number of trips to the fertility clinic in California. Here is what that actually looks like from New Jersey.
- Serving
- All of New JerseyNewark, Jersey City, Paterson, Elizabeth, Edison, Camden, and beyond
- Helping families since
- 2015Coordinated from our California home office
- The law
- Written into statute in 2018Gestational Carrier Agreement Act
- Parentage
- Order of parentageFiled with the Superior Court during the pregnancy; attaches at birth
How surrogacy works when you live in New Jersey
New Jersey has had a gestational-surrogacy statute since 2018, so the questions here are about how that statute works and about logistics: 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 two clinic milestones, the medical evaluation and the embryo transfer, happen at the fertility clinic in California. From New Jersey that is a cross-country flight, roughly six hours, 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, and under New Jersey's Act your agreement states your right to care for the pregnancy, delivery, and recovery from the provider you choose, once you tell the intended parents in writing, whether you deliver near Newark or down the shore. The full picture is on our become a surrogate page.
One team, coordinated to New Jersey
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 who work under the Gestational Carrier Agreement Act.
We tell you where each step happens, and who is in the room, before you commit to anything. Start with surrogacy for intended parents.
What the law says in New Jersey, plainly.
New Jersey has a specific statute for this, the Gestational Carrier Agreement Act, in force since 2018. It sets out who can be a gestational carrier, what the agreement must contain, and how intended parents obtain an order of parentage through the Superior Court. The full state-by-state picture lives on our law guide.
This is general information, not legal advice. Your own New Jersey attorney confirms how it applies to your match.
Read our full surrogacy law guideNew Jersey's surrogacy law is written into statute, the Gestational Carrier Agreement Act of 2018. Under the Act, a gestational carrier agreement is presumed enforceable when it meets the Act's contractual requirements and contains the terms the Act requires. The contractual requirements: it is in writing and signed by the surrogate, her spouse or partner if she has one, and each intended parent; it is signed after the surrogate's medical and psychological evaluations and the intended parents' psychological evaluation, and before any further medical procedures toward the embryo transfer; and each side is represented by its own attorney, who provides an affidavit of that representation. The required terms include the surrogate's agreement to undergo the embryo transfer and attempt to carry and give birth to the child, to surrender custody to the intended parents immediately at birth, and her right to medical care from the provider she chooses after written notice to the intended parents, and the intended parents' agreement to accept custody and sole responsibility for the child's support immediately at birth. The agreement also sets out each side's financial responsibilities, including the intended parents' payment of the surrogate's reasonable expenses as the Act defines them (medical and similar expenses, her reasonable attorney fees, and reasonable living expenses during the pregnancy and postpartum recovery), unless she waives them in writing.
Once the surrogate is pregnant, the intended parents file for an order of parentage with the Superior Court. If the court finds the parties complied with the Act, it enters the order naming the intended parents as the child's legal parents, and after the birth the order and the birth-certificate application go to the State Registrar, who issues the birth certificate in the intended parents' names. The Act covers gestational surrogacy, where the carrier does not use her own egg; traditional surrogacy, where the carrier is the genetic mother, is a different path, and not one we work in.
A note on accuracy. We work in gestational surrogacy only, where the surrogate is not genetically related to the child, which is the arrangement New Jersey's Act is written for. The drafting and the counsel still carry the weight, which is why every match includes independent attorneys on each side.
Requirements to become a surrogate in New Jersey
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. New Jersey's Act sets its own floor: a gestational carrier is at least 21, has given birth to at least one child, has completed a medical evaluation and a psychological evaluation before the agreement is signed, and has her own attorney, independent of the intended parents; the intended parents complete a psychological evaluation too and are represented by their own attorney. On top of that comes 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 New Jersey, plainly: compensation is real, it is written into your agreement before any medications begin, and it is 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 Newark, Jersey City, or beyond
From New Jersey, 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 Newark. The step-by-step arc is on our how surrogacy works page.
Counsel who work under the Act
Your agreement is drafted and reviewed by independent attorneys under the Gestational Carrier Agreement Act, with separate counsel for each side, and once the pregnancy is confirmed your attorneys file for the order of parentage through the Superior Court, in a closed proceeding with confidential records. Your attorneys carry that process so you do not have to.
Every kind of family, welcomed
We welcome married, unmarried, LGBTQ+, and single intended parents. New Jersey's Act defines an intended parent to include people who are single, married, in a civil union or domestic partnership, or an unmarried couple, including two mothers or two fathers, and once the order of parentage is entered, the birth certificate issued after the birth names the intended parents as the child's parents. See how we support LGBTQ+ families.
Clear costs before you commit
We post no price lists for the cost of surrogacy in New Jersey, and we 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 New Jersey?
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 New Jersey. 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 carrier agreement is completed and signed after the screening evaluations and before any further medical procedures toward the embryo transfer, as the Act requires. This is also when compensation and expenses go into writing; the Act requires the agreement to set out each side's financial responsibilities.
Embryo transfer and pregnancy
The California clinic handles the medical cycle and the transfer. Then New Jersey 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
Once the pregnancy is confirmed, your attorneys file for the order of parentage through the Superior Court, and under the Act, when its requirements are met, the intended parents are the child's legal parents from the moment of birth 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 Newark storefront. New Jersey 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-country matches every day.
When you reach out, a real person calls you back and stays your person from then on, whether home is a town in Bergen County, a block in Jersey City, or a street near the shore. The only steps that bring you to California are the clinic ones.
11989 Arrow Route, Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91739
(626) 528-6868
New Jersey surrogacy, answered
Is surrogacy legal in New Jersey?
New Jersey has written gestational surrogacy into statute. The Gestational Carrier Agreement Act, in force since 2018, sets out how a gestational carrier agreement is made and how intended parents obtain an order of parentage through the Superior Court.
The Act covers gestational surrogacy, where the carrier does not use her own egg. Traditional surrogacy, where the carrier is the genetic mother, sits outside the Act and is not a path we work in. For the state-by-state picture, see our surrogacy law guide.
What are the requirements to become a surrogate in New Jersey?
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.
New Jersey's Act adds its own floor, at least 21 years old, at least one prior birth, a medical and a psychological evaluation before the agreement is signed, and her own attorney independent of the intended parents, and those program guidelines plus medical and psychological screening carry the decision. 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 New Jersey with your own OB and hospital.
Do you need a lawyer for surrogacy in New Jersey?
Every Lily Baby match includes independent counsel on each side, and New Jersey's Act is written the same way: the surrogate retains her own attorney, independent of the intended parents, her reasonable attorney fees are among the reasonable expenses the Act has the intended parents pay unless she waives them in writing, and the intended parents are represented by their own.
Your attorneys draft and review the agreement before any medications begin, each files an affidavit of representation, and once the pregnancy is confirmed they file for the order of parentage through the Superior Court. We coordinate the referrals so you are never hunting for counsel alone.
How do intended parents in Newark or Jersey City 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 New Jersey
It starts with a conversation, from wherever you are in New Jersey. We listen first, then show you exactly what comes next.