Surrogacy By State

Becoming a Surrogate in Pennsylvania


If you’ve ever expressed interest in becoming a surrogate mother in Pennsylvania, you have an incredibly giving heart! Being a surrogate mother in Pennsylvania means giving someone else a gift that they can never repay, but it’s one that you’ll both look back on and smile about for the rest of your lives.

These seven steps will help you learn how to be a surrogate mother in PA, so that you can determine whether or not this path is right for you:

Step 1: Decide If You’re Ready to Become a Surrogate

The choice to become a surrogate mother in Pennsylvania isn’t the right one for everyone. Becoming a surrogate requires about a year of you fully committing your body, heart, time and energy. Your decision also affects those around you, especially your family. If you’re married, your spouse will have to confirm their commitment to your decision to become a surrogate mother for two reasons: They’ll need to legally confirm that they hold no legal parental claims to any child you would carry for the intended parents. They’ll also be your main source of emotional support throughout the process, so they’re commitment is important.

If you’re thinking about becoming a surrogate in Pennsylvania, you should also consider your motivations. If your primary goal is to help people to have a child, then you’ll likely make an excellent PA surrogate!

Step 2: Choose Which Type of Surrogacy and Professional

If you’re committed to the surrogacy process and ready to become surrogate mother, Pennsylvania has two types of surrogacy and surrogacy professionals that you’ll want to learn about and choose from:

Traditional surrogacy:

A rare type of surrogacy due to the increased legal and emotional risks associated with it, you would be the biological mother of the child you’d carry in traditional surrogacy. Your egg would be combined with sperm from a donor or an intended father through IVF or IUI at a fertility clinic. Traditional surrogacy is legally viewed as adoption under Pennsylvania law, so you are not allowed to be compensated for this type of surrogacy, and you and the intended parents would need to complete an adoption after the baby is born. Few surrogacy programs and agencies will complete a traditional surrogacy due to the risks.

Gestational surrogacy:

The most common type of surrogacy, you would not be biologically related to the child you would carry for the intended parents. Instead, an embryo is created through IVF using an egg and sperm from donors or intended parents, and is then transferred to your uterus in a fertility clinic. It’s legal to be compensated for this type of surrogacy in Pennsylvania.

Once you understand these surrogacy options, it’s time to search for the professionals that will help you complete your surrogacy journey. Seeking out intended parents on your own without the protection of a professional is always discouraged for legal and safety reasons. Instead, choose from one of these two different types of surrogacy professionals:

Surrogacy agencies:

They provide most, if not all, of the required services that you’ll need to complete the entire PA surrogacy process and handle everything for you. They match you with pre-screened intended parents, providing you with profiles of waiting families who are ready to begin.

Surrogacy attorneys:

They handle the legal steps of the surrogacy process, but usually don’t provide any searching or matching services. However, they can often give advice about how to search for potential intended parents in Pennsylvania.

Step 3: Complete the Screening Process to Become a Surrogate Mom in PA

When you’ve decided how you’re going to move forward, you’ll need to meet the requirements to become a surrogate mother in Pennsylvania. The requirements established by individual surrogacy professionals can vary slightly, but you’ll typically need to meet the following criteria:

Health

Pennsylvania surrogates will need to complete the medical screening process and meet the necessary health requirements. This usually includes having a BMI of about 19-33, being smoke- and drug-free and having given birth at least once without any pregnancy complications. Learn more about the health requirements needed in the process to be a surrogate mother in PA here.

Legal

Some of the legal requirements of learning how to become a gestational surrogate in PA include being a permanent United States resident, not receiving state welfare and more. Learn more about the legal processes of how to be a surrogate mom in Pennsylvania here.

Emotional

Being mentally and emotionally prepared for the surrogacy process is an important part of being a gestational carrier in Pennsylvania. You’ll need to complete a psychological screening process, have a strong support system at home and more. Learn more about how to create a support system and how to become a gestational surrogate in Pennsylvania here.

Step 4: Match with the Intended Parents

Finding the right intended parents is one of the most exhilarating moments of learning how to become a surrogate mother in Pennsylvania. There are a few different ways you can go about finding intended parents as a PA surrogate.

If you’re working with an agency or matching program, you’ll be shown profiles of waiting couples, and you can choose to carry for one of those couples. If you already know someone you’d like to carry for, you’ll simply need to contact a surrogacy professional to complete the legal and medical steps of the process. If you’re working with an attorney and are becoming a surrogate without an agency in PA, you’ll need to search for intended parents on your own using your personal connections, online advertising and more.

Step 5: Draft and Finalize Your Legal Surrogacy Contract

When you’ve found the intended parents you’d like to carry for, you’ll need to finalize a surrogacy contract together before you can take any medical actions. You’ll need legal representation that’s separate from the intended parents to ensure that both parties are equally represented.

Your surrogacy contract will outline your compensation, the legal parental rights for the intended parents, how you’d all want to proceed in case of complications and more.

Once you’ve decided on a final version of the contract, you can move to the next steps to becoming a surrogate in Pennsylvania.

Step 6: Complete the Embryo Transfer

You’ll take a series of fertility treatments like hormones and medications, which will lead up to an embryo transfer at the pre-established fertility clinic. You may need to travel to this clinic, but any travel expenses are covered for you by the intended parents. Following the procedure, you’ll have to rest at the clinic for a few hours and then go easy for a few days to help increase your chances of a successful embryo implantation.

It can sometimes take a few cycles of embryo transfer until a healthy pregnancy is established. But when a doctor is able to confirm this, you can go to your own OBGYN for regular prenatal care and just keep in touch with the intended parents as your pregnancy progresses.

Step 7: Celebrate the Baby’s Arrival with the Intended Parents!

The most fulfilling part of becoming a surrogate in PA is the moment when you watch the intended parents meet their baby for the first time, and realize that you brought them together. The intended parents will typically travel to you once you go into labor. All this, including your preferred birth plan, will be established with the intended parents and your surrogacy professional when you create your surrogacy contract.

Giving the gift of parenthood by becoming a surrogate mother in Pennsylvania is truly a unique experience. If you’d like to learn more about how to become a surrogate mother in Pennsylvania, contact a surrogacy professional now.

Male and Female couple smiling with surrogate mother
Is Surrogacy Right For Me?

Take our 2 minute quiz to find out

Get Started