Surrogacy in South Carolina
We serve all of South Carolina, working with surrogates and intended parents in Charleston, Columbia, Greenville, Mount Pleasant, Rock Hill, Myrtle Beach, and the towns in between. South Carolina families build through gestational surrogacy, and its courts commonly grant a parentage order before birth, with most of the process happening where you live: you apply from home, match from home, and see your own OB for prenatal care. The first fertility-clinic appointments happen at our clinic in California. Here is what that actually looks like from South Carolina.
- Serving
- All of South CarolinaCharleston, Columbia, Greenville, Mount Pleasant, Rock Hill, Myrtle Beach and beyond
- Helping families since
- 2015Coordinated from our California home office
- The law
- Supported by court practicePermitted, guided case by case
- Parentage
- Handled by your attorneysPre-birth orders commonly granted, county by county
How surrogacy works when you live in South Carolina
The first question most people ask is whether surrogacy is okay here, and the second is where everything actually happens. Surrogacy is genuinely established in South Carolina, and almost all of the process 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 screening and the embryo transfer, happen at our fertility clinic in California. South Carolina to Southern California is a real cross-country trip, roughly five hours in the air and usually a connection from Charleston, Columbia, or Greenville, 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 Charleston or Greenville, with your coordinator a call away the whole time. The full picture is on our become a surrogate page.
One team, coordinated to South Carolina
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 file for the pre-birth order where it fits your match.
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 is established in South Carolina
"Is South Carolina surrogacy friendly?" is how most people put it, and for gestational surrogacy the honest answer is yes, through the courts rather than a statute. The full state-by-state picture lives on our law guide.
This is general information, not legal advice. Your own South Carolina attorney confirms how it applies to your match.
Read our full surrogacy law guideSouth Carolina has no surrogacy statute, but gestational surrogacy is permitted here, supported by long-standing court practice and a federal decision that treated a gestational carrier agreement as valid. Agreements are drafted before any medical steps, with independent counsel on each side.
South Carolina courts commonly grant a parentage order before birth, with a final order shortly after delivery. Whether a pre-birth order fits your match, and exactly how it is done, depends on genetics, marital status, and the county and judge, and your attorneys plan that path in advance. The destination is the same either way: 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 South Carolina's framework rests on court practice rather than a statute, the drafting and the counsel matter; always confirm your specifics with a South Carolina-licensed reproductive attorney.
Requirements to become a surrogate in South Carolina
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. South Carolina adds no statutory checklist of its own, so what carries the weight is the screening itself: your records, a clinic evaluation in California, and psychological screening, done in that order and explained as we go.
About pay, because it is one of the most common questions: South Carolina places no restriction on what a gestational carrier is paid, compensation is written into your agreement before any medications begin, held in escrow, 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 Charleston, Columbia, or Greenville
From South Carolina, 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 flight from Charleston, Columbia, or Greenville. The step-by-step arc is on our how surrogacy works page.
Counsel who plan South Carolina's parentage path
Your agreement is drafted and reviewed by independent attorneys, and your attorneys file for the pre-birth order where it fits your match, then complete parentage on South Carolina's timeline. Pre-birth orders are commonly granted here; your attorneys plan the exact path for your county.
Every kind of family, welcomed
We welcome married, unmarried, LGBTQ+, and single intended parents, and experienced South Carolina counsel structures the right parentage path for each 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, and we are happy to have it early.
How does surrogacy work in South Carolina?
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 South Carolina. 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 at the California clinic is one of the planned 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. The agreement is the foundation of a South Carolina match, 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 South Carolina 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 file for the parentage order, commonly before the birth, so that when the baby arrives the intended parents are recognized as the parents and the family goes home together, with any final steps completed on South Carolina's timeline.
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 Charleston storefront. South Carolina 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 block in downtown Charleston, a street in Columbia, or a Piedmont town near Greenville. The only steps that bring you to California are the clinic ones.
11989 Arrow Route, Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91739
(626) 528-6868
South Carolina surrogacy, answered
Is surrogacy legal in South Carolina?
Yes. South Carolina permits gestational surrogacy, supported by court practice, and its courts commonly grant a parentage order before birth.
Agreements are drafted with independent counsel on each side, and your attorneys plan the parentage path for your match. For the state-by-state picture, see our surrogacy law guide.
Is South Carolina surrogacy friendly?
Yes for gestational surrogacy, with pre-birth orders commonly granted. The honest note is that the exact parentage path depends on genetics, marital status, and county, and your attorneys plan it.
That is the difference most pages skip; we would rather tell you plainly. The depth lives on our surrogacy law guide.
What are the requirements to become a surrogate in South Carolina?
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.
South Carolina 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 first fertility-clinic appointments, including screening, and the embryo transfer, which happen at the California clinic.
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 South Carolina with your own OB and hospital.
Do you need a lawyer for surrogacy in South Carolina?
Yes. Each side has its own independent attorney, and in South Carolina that matters even more because there is no statute and the parentage path is planned county by county.
Your attorneys draft and review the agreement before any medications begin, then file for the parentage order on your county's timeline. We coordinate the referrals so you are never hunting for counsel alone.
Get started in South Carolina
It starts with a conversation, from wherever you are in South Carolina. We listen first, then show you exactly what comes next.