Surrogacy in the USA remains one of the top choices made by intended parents among other surrogacy destinations. Its gold-standard vision is stipulated by the versatility of legal attitudes toward surrogacy in different states. But it’s crucial to distinguish in which states is surrogacy legal and in which ― isn’t. This important distinction we have an intention to analyze in the article below.

States Where Surrogacy is Legal

One of the key features of American surrogacy systems is that even within surrogacy-friendly states there are differences in the law framework. But what unites all of the amicable surrogacy regulations is the presence of legally obtained pre-/post-birth orders (which determine the parental rights over the newborn in favor of the intended parents) and a surrogacy agreement between the surrogate mother and IPs.

Talking more about particular states where surrogacy is legal, here are the most favorable options for intended parents:

• California. Thanks to supportive law regulation, both heterosexual and LGBT IPs could establish paternity on the basis of a birth order without having to attend a hearing.
• New Jersey. This state is renowned for its friendly attitude toward IPs who decided to undertake surrogacy here. The pre-birth order is easily obtained taking aside the distinction between own and donor biomaterial.
• Nevada & Delaware. These states have somewhat similar favorable attitudes in terms of surrogacy services for the intended parents of different gender and marital status.
• Connecticut & Washington. In both these states, gestational surrogacy is legally allowed equally for heterosexual and same-sex IPs despite their marital status.
• Maine & New Hampshire. These states also legally support pre-birth orders and surrogacy contracts but are issued with certain guidelines.
• District of Colombia. It slightly differs from other states described above, but still allows commercial surrogacy on a legal level.

Where is Surrogacy Illegal in the US?

In fact, there are only a few states that do not welcome surrogacy from the legal perspective and we hope that soon a progressive evolution of reproductive technologies will make its meaningful impact on American legislation, inviting radical changes.

So here are the states, where surrogacy is illegal currently:

• Michigan. Doesn’t support commercial surrogacy to the extent where you will be obliged to pay a solid fine.
• Arizona & Indiana. The law framework in these states clearly outlines that surrogacy agreements are prohibited and in fact invalid.
• Nebraska. All surrogacy agreements are seen as unenforceable in Nebraska. Compensated surrogacy is prohibited whereas the traditional type of surrogacy is somewhat allowed due to the absence of a particular law that prohibits it.
• Louisiana. Although this state allows surrogacy for married heterosexual couples, assisted reproductive technologies, for singles, unmarried and LGBT intended parents remain prohibited by law.

What concerns the remaining states of America, surrogacy here is partially legal, implying that some parts of the process have special legal restrictions/requirements.

Why is Surrogacy Illegal in Some States?

This question is tricky because it’s quite strange for a 21st-century society still legally ban surrogacy, especially in an advanced country like the USA. Perhaps some states are questioning the ethical approach of surrogacy services, others may be stuck in the deep-rooted stereotypes concerning surrogacy.

No matter what is the initial cause of such an attitude, it still warms our hearts knowing that there are more surrogacy-friendly options in the USA on the contrary. If you need a helping hand in choosing the most appropriate American state for your surrogacy journey ― feel free to complete a short form on our website and get in touch with our manager.