Surrogacy in Pennsylvania
We serve all of Pennsylvania, working with surrogates and intended parents from Philadelphia and Pittsburgh to Erie, Allentown, Harrisburg, Lancaster, and everywhere between. Pennsylvania's Superior Court has upheld a gestational carrier agreement as binding and enforceable, 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 how it works from where you live.
- Serving
- All of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie, and everywhere between
- Helping families since
- 2015Coordinated from our California home office
- The law
- Upheld by case lawPennsylvania Superior Court, 2015
- Families
- Every kindMarried, unmarried, LGBTQ+, and single parents
How surrogacy works when you live in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania has excellent hospitals and fertility care of its own, so the fair first question is why a program based in California. The honest answer: almost everything happens at home, and the only steps that bring you to California are the first fertility-clinic appointments, before the pregnancy. Once you are pregnant, your prenatal care comes home to your own OB. Here is the picture for each side.
Home for almost all of it
You apply from home, and the screening conversations and records review happen by phone and video. The medical steps, the clinic evaluation and the embryo transfer, take place at the fertility clinic in California, planned as a small number of trips we arrange together, never a relocation.
The rest of the pregnancy is yours, at home: your own OB in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Lancaster, or wherever home is, your own hospital for delivery, and a coordinator who picks up when you call. Read the full picture on our become a surrogate page.
One team, coordinated to Pennsylvania
Consultations happen by video, or in person at our California home office if you prefer, and matching, screening, and legal referrals run through one coordinator. The legal work is handled by independent attorneys, including counsel experienced with Pennsylvania parentage work, which is handled through your local court.
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 Pennsylvania, plainly.
"Is Pennsylvania a surrogacy-friendly state?" is the question Pennsylvanians ask most, so here is the short version. How Pennsylvania compares with every other state lives on our law guide.
Everything here is general information, not legal advice. Your own Pennsylvania attorney confirms how it applies to your match.
Read our full surrogacy law guidePennsylvania has no surrogacy statute. What it has instead is case law. In 2015, Pennsylvania's Superior Court held that a gestational carrier agreement was binding and enforceable, noting that the legislature had taken no action against surrogacy agreements, and it described a long-established Department of Health procedure, run on a court order, for placing the intended parents' names on the birth certificate when a gestational carrier is used. In 2025, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court counted contract, where a child is born through assisted reproduction, among the pathways to legal parentage that Pennsylvania law recognizes.
Because there is no statute, the parentage work is handled through the local courts, which is exactly why your match includes independent attorneys who work in Pennsylvania parentage law and know the courts where you live. Contracts are signed before any medications begin, and compensation is set out in writing from the start.
A note on accuracy. Because Pennsylvania's framework comes from court decisions rather than a statute, the way your agreement is drafted matters. We work in gestational surrogacy only, where the surrogate is not genetically related to the child. Always confirm your specifics with a Pennsylvania-licensed reproductive attorney.
Requirements to become a surrogate in Pennsylvania
These are the general guidelines most surrogacy programs work from, ours included. Treat them as a starting point, not a verdict. The real answer comes from 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.
Pennsylvania does not add a checklist of its own. With no statute prescribing surrogate criteria, screening follows the national medical-practice standards your clinic works to, which is the same screening we run everywhere: records review, a clinic evaluation, and psychological screening, in that order.
A word about compensation: your agreement, drafted with independent counsel on each side, puts compensation and expenses in writing before anything medical begins. What it looks like depends on your situation, so we talk it through personally rather than posting numbers.
Had a c-section, a tubal ligation, a history of anxiety, or PCOS? Those are the questions we hear most, and the honest answer is usually that it depends. We would rather talk it through than turn you away on a checklist. Our surrogate eligibility guide goes condition by condition, the become a surrogate page has the full picture, or just reach out.
Building your family from Philadelphia or Pittsburgh
Working with us from Pennsylvania looks like one team coordinating everything: the match, the screening, the clinic, and the legal work, with your questions answered before you commit. Here is what that means in practice.
Remote first, in person when you want
Consultations and matching conversations happen by video, around your schedule and the time difference. When you want to sit across a table, our home office is a direct flight from Philadelphia or Pittsburgh. The full arc is on our how surrogacy works page.
The right counsel for Pennsylvania parentage work
Your agreement is drafted and reviewed by independent attorneys, and the parentage work is handled by counsel who know Pennsylvania's local courts. You never have to figure out the sequencing alone; your attorneys plan it around where you live and where the baby will be born.
Every kind of family
Married, unmarried, LGBTQ+, or single: we welcome every kind of family, and experienced Pennsylvania counsel plans the parentage path for yours in a state whose rules on this come from court decisions rather than a statute. See how we support LGBTQ+ families.
Clear costs before you commit
We do not post price lists, and we do not do surprises either. Before anything is signed, we walk through what shapes the total and build a personalized estimate for your situation. Our surrogacy costs guide explains how that works.
How does surrogacy work in Pennsylvania?
No two matches run on the same calendar, but the steps do not change. This is the path from your first call to the day the baby goes home.
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First conversation and application
It starts with a phone or video call from wherever you are in Pennsylvania. Surrogates fill out an application; intended parents talk through goals, timing, and the kind of match they are hoping for. Nothing medical happens yet.
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Screening, remote first
We review medical records and coordinate medical and psychological screening around your schedule. The in-person clinic evaluation is one of the small number of California trips, and we plan it with you well ahead of time.
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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 finalized and signed before any medications begin. In a case-law state like Pennsylvania, this step carries the weight, and it is also when compensation and expenses are set in writing.
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Embryo transfer and pregnancy
The fertility clinic in California handles the medical cycle and the embryo transfer, then you are home for the pregnancy with your own OB and your own hospital, whether that is in Center City or Erie. Your coordinator stays close to both sides throughout.
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Parentage and birth
Your attorneys handle the parentage work through your local court, petitioning for the order that names the intended parents as the child's legal parents and directs the Department of Health to issue the birth certificate in their names, with the timing planned around your match. Then the family goes home together.
A California team, honestly
Our home office is in Rancho Cucamonga, California, not Pennsylvania, and we would rather say that plainly than pretend a Philadelphia storefront. Pennsylvania is a real flight away, so we built the program around that: everything except the clinic steps runs by phone and video, around your work and your kids, with a coordinator who runs cross-state matches every day.
When you reach out, a real person calls you back, walks through your questions, and stays your person from then on. That is as true in Scranton, Reading, Bethlehem, York, and Harrisburg as it is in the big two. The only steps that bring you to California are the clinic ones, and we plan those with you.
11989 Arrow Route, Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91739
(626) 528-6868
Pennsylvania surrogacy, answered
Is surrogacy legal in Pennsylvania?
Pennsylvania has no surrogacy statute, so the answer comes from case law. In 2015 the state's Superior Court held a gestational carrier agreement binding and enforceable, and in 2025 the Pennsylvania Supreme Court counted contract, where a child is born through assisted reproduction, among the pathways to legal parentage its law recognizes.
That 2015 decision is a published opinion, and it also describes a long-established Department of Health procedure, run on a court order, for placing the intended parents' names on the child's birth certificate when a gestational carrier is used. For the state-by-state picture, see our surrogacy law guide.
Is Pennsylvania a surrogacy-friendly state?
"Surrogacy-friendly" is a label rather than a legal term, so here is what the record shows: no statute, a published 2015 appellate decision upholding a gestational carrier agreement, a Supreme Court that recognizes parentage by contract in assisted reproduction, and a parentage order that comes from your local court.
That is exactly why your match includes independent Pennsylvania counsel who know the local courts. The full comparison lives on our surrogacy law guide.
What are the requirements to be a surrogate in Pennsylvania?
Broadly: about 21 to 38 years old, at least one healthy birth of your own, a child you are raising now, good general health, a smoke-free home, and steady support around you.
Pennsylvania has no statute adding requirements of its own, so screening follows national medical standards plus your clinic's. The final answer always comes from a conversation and screening, not a checklist, because your history matters more than any single box. Our surrogate eligibility guide takes the condition-by-condition questions one at a time.
Do I have to travel to California?
Yes, some, and we would rather tell you that plainly: the clinic steps happen in California, even though Pennsylvania has fertility clinics of its own.
The first fertility-clinic appointments, the clinic evaluation and the embryo transfer, happen at the California clinic and mean a small number of planned trips. Everything else, from your first call to your prenatal care and delivery, stays home in Pennsylvania with your own OB.
How do intended parents in Philadelphia or Pittsburgh get started?
With one conversation. Tell us where you are, whether you already have embryos, and the timing you hope for, and we lay out exactly what would come next.
Every consultation can happen by video, or at our California home office if you would rather meet in person. From there, one coordinator runs the match, the screening, the clinic, and the independent legal work. Start with surrogacy for intended parents or our how surrogacy works guide.
Get started in Pennsylvania
It starts with a conversation, from wherever you are in Pennsylvania. We listen first, then show you exactly what comes next.