Surrogacy By State

Surrogacy in Alabama

Key Points:

• Learn more about surrogacy in Alabama and the benefits for everyone.
• Find out how much you can earn as a surrogate in Alabama.
• Take the next steps towards surrogacy in Alabama by contacting a surrogacy agency today.

Surrogacy in Alabama can be  a life-changing experience, and you can have a safe, fully supported surrogacy journey with the help of a qualified surrogacy agency.

There’s a lot to learn about the surrogacy process, and working with a surrogacy agency comes with benefits for the prospective surrogate birth mother and intended parents.

These benefits include:

• Help from a surrogacy specialist who can provide guidance and knows the state’s ever-evolving surrogacy laws and guidelines.
• Assurance knowing that the agency can provide you with surrogacy professional references and access to top-rated medical professionals.
• Knowledge that as a surrogate, you’ll get the best base compensation package possible.
• Confidence that your specialist will help you match with the perfect intended family or surrogate mother.

Contact us today if you’re ready to talk to a surrogacy specialist about starting your gestational surrogacy in Alabama.

Speak with a specialist today!

But, if you want to learn more about how to become a surrogate in Alabama, then we have everything you need.

What is Surrogacy in Alabama?

Surrogacy in Alabama is the process of intended parents having a child through the services of a gestational carrier. This process is completed with the help of several professionals, including a surrogacy agency, fertility clinic and surrogacy attorney.

While there used to be two types of surrogacy (“gestational” and “traditional”), all modern surrogacies in Alabama are gestational surrogacies.

What is Gestational Surrogacy in Alabama?

With gestational surrogacy in Alabama, a surrogate is not the biological mother of the child she carries. An embryo created from the intended mother’s egg and the intended father’s sperm via in vitro fertilization is transferred to the surrogate.

This form of surrogacy is legal in many states, including Alabama. A surrogacy agency will help you navigate this type of surrogacy journey and connect you with a surrogacy lawyer to ensure your surrogacy is 100% legal.

How to Become a Surrogate Mother in Alabama

Once you decide that becoming a surrogate in Alabama is right for you, the best thing you can do is connect with a surrogacy agency. If you’d like to talk to an agency today, you can click here.

With the help of your surrogacy specialist, you’ll take these steps on your surrogacy journey:

Step 1: Screenings for Gestational Surrogacy in Alabama

The idea of screenings may sound scary, but you don’t need to be afraid. Your agency is on your side, and everyone wants you to succeed. You’ll go through the following screenings to make sure you are set up for a great surrogacy process:

• Psychological
• Medical
• Physical

Step 2: Finding Intended Parents

After finishing these screenings, you’ll “match” with intended parents. Your surrogacy agency will show you profiles of intended parents who will be a good fit. At the same time, intended parents will see your profile, too.

If you both agree that it seems like a good match, your specialist will set up a call so you can get to know each other. From there, you can sign your match agreement, which means you have officially found a match.

Step 3: Finalizing Your Surrogacy Contract

After you match with intended parents, you’ll:

• Complete your legal surrogacy contract with the help of a surrogacy lawyer
• Start the medical portion of your surrogacy in Alabama

Step 4: Starting the Surrogacy Medical Process

The surrogacy medical process can be complex. The right surrogacy agency will make this process more stress-free, helping connect you with the best medical professionals in your area. They can provide support and answer any questions you have.

Step 5: Completing Your Surrogacy Journey

At this point, your surrogacy in Alabama will be over. By the end of your journey, you will have provided intended parents with the most amazing gift of their lives.

Surrogacy Agencies in Alabama

A good surrogacy agency can take a lot of the stress out of the surrogacy process. Surrogacy agencies in Alabama will provide you with a specialist who will help you through every step of your surrogacy journey.

No surrogacy journey is the same, and a surrogacy specialist has the resources and knowledge to ensure you are supported throughout your unique experience.

The following are some of the surrogacy agencies you could choose to work with:

• American Surrogacy
• Southern Surrogacy

How Much do Surrogates get Paid in Alabama?

It’s common to wonder how much you can get paid for surrogacy in Alabama.

Surrogates can choose to enter into two different types of financial situations in surrogacy:

Commercial Surrogacy in Alabama

Commercial surrogacy, also called compensated surrogacy, is when a surrogate receives base pay on top of the normal compensation she gets for her pregnancy- and surrogacy-related expenses. This compensation recognizes the time, energy and dedication a surrogate invests in the process. Typical base pay for a surrogate ranges from $50,000-$110,000, based on experience, cost of living and the agency you work with.

Altruistic Surrogacy in Alabama

Altruistic surrogacy is when a surrogate waives her right to base compensation for her surrogacy services. Those who choose altruistic surrogacy do so because they know the intended parents and want to help a friend or family member.

Although it’s selfless and kind to contemplate altruistic surrogacy, most surrogacy professionals urge surrogates to seek some compensation – even if it’s less than standard base pay – to avoid feelings of frustration later on in the surrogacy process.

Next Steps Toward Surrogacy in Alabama

To learn more about surrogacy in Alabama, you can read more about the process in the articles listed below. But if you’re ready to start your surrogacy in Alabama, you can contact us today.

What to Know About the Alabama IVF Ruling

In early 2024, the Alabama Supreme Court made a ruling that threw fertility clinics in the state into turmoil. IVF procedures, in particular, were in jeopardy. In an effort to support anyone in Alabama considering surrogacy or other fertility options, we have created this list of updates following the story:

Update: Alabama Governor Signs IVF Protection Bill

Alabama governor Kay Ivey signed a new bill that is meant to protect IVF patients and providers on March 7, 2024. While some issues are the heart of the Alabama Supreme Court’s ruling are not addressed in the new law, the hope is that it will allow clinics to resume IVF procedures as soon as this month.

If you are considering IVF in Alabama as a surrogate or intended parent, you should speak with your clinic, your attorney and your surrogacy agency before deciding on a plan.

Update: Alabama Legislation to Pass New Bills Protecting IVF

On February 29, both chambers of the Alabama legislation passed bills designed to protect IVF.

The House and Senate will still need to vote on a unified version before handing it to Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey.

These bills are designed to:

• Create specific protections that shield patients, doctors and other professionals from prosecution and civil suits in the state.
• SB 159 provides civil and criminal immunity for death or damage to an embryo to any individual or entity when providing or receiving goods or services related to in vitro fertilization.
• HB 237 is a companion bill passed by the state house declaring no action, suit or criminal prosecution for the damage to or death of an embryo shall be brought or maintained against an individual or entity.
• Legislators admit the proposals need further clarification but are designed to be a quick fix to allow the several closed IVF clinics in the state to reopen.

The Alabama Supreme Court Decision

On February 16, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that embryos created through In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) are considered children.

This comes after 3 couples filed lawsuits against a fertility clinic located inside a hospital after a patient of the hospital entered the fertility clinic’s cryo-preservation unit and opened one of the tanks in December 2020. Because embryos are stored at sub-freezing temperatures, the patient burned himself and dropped the embryos, which hit the ground and were destroyed.

The plaintiff couples brought lawsuits against the fertility clinic and hospital, with the main focus being a violation of the Alabama statute of Wrongful Death of a Minor Act.

At the trial level, a judge ruled that embryos that exist in vitro are not people or children, and this specific case was dismissed. The plaintiff couples appealed to the Alabama Supreme Court, which overturned the judge’s ruling, saying embryos are to be considered children.

Fertility Clinics Pausing Treatments

As a result of the ruling, several fertility clinics have paused IVF treatments due to concerns over far-ranging impacts on healthcare and reproductive technology.

The largest fertility clinic at the University of Alabama in Birmingham is one of the first to pause treatments. Currently, couples receiving treatment have been forced to pause, as well.

The Supreme Court says state legislators are best suited to decide the future of IVF treatments in Alabama.