Legal note: This checklist is educational only. Surrogacy law and enforceability vary by state, and each party should rely on qualified reproductive counsel for the specific arrangement.
Core contract topics to review
- Parties and intent: identify the intended parent or parents and gestational carrier, and document the intended parentage structure.
- Compensation and reimbursements: define base compensation, allowances, reimbursable expenses, payment timing and documentation.
- Escrow: specify who funds the account, when funds are due, how disbursements are authorized and what happens to remaining funds.
- Insurance and medical expenses: allocate premiums, deductibles, uncovered expenses and responsibility if coverage changes.
- Medical process: address transfer planning, prenatal care, testing and expectations while preserving the gestational carrier's medical autonomy.
- Pregnancy contingencies: address miscarriage, failed transfer, multiple pregnancy, complications and other foreseeable scenarios.
- Travel and logistics: define reimbursement rules for appointments, delivery, childcare, lodging and lost wages where applicable.
- Communication and privacy: document expectations around updates, contact, photos, social media and confidentiality.
- Parentage planning: coordinate the agreement with the expected pre-birth or post-birth legal process in the relevant jurisdiction.
- Termination and changed circumstances: address what happens if the arrangement ends before transfer or if material circumstances change.
Questions intended parents should ask counsel
- Which state's law is expected to govern the agreement?
- Are there statutory eligibility or execution requirements?
- When must the agreement be fully executed relative to treatment?
- What provisions are required by law versus negotiated by the parties?
- How will parentage be established in the expected delivery state?
- What happens financially if a transfer fails or a rematch is needed?
- How should insurance changes or uncovered claims be handled?
Contract terms and budgeting are connected
The agreement often determines when compensation is paid, what expenses are reimbursable, how surrogacy escrow works, and who bears specific insurance-related costs. Intended parents should compare these terms with the broader 2026 U.S. surrogacy cost guide before treating a quoted budget as complete.
Contract terms and medical planning are connected
Legal clearance and fertility-clinic timing need to stay coordinated. Review the broader surrogacy legal process and medical process alongside the agreement rather than treating them as separate tracks.
Related guides
Surrogacy legal fees · Surrogacy laws by state · Surrogacy escrow · Rematch costs