Without a federal law, surrogacy in the U.S. is governed by a patchwork of state regulations that can determine everything from whether agreements are legally binding to who is recognized as a parent at birth.
U.S. clinics reported more than 11,500 gestational carrier cycles in 2023 — nearly seven times as many as in 2004, when the American Society for Reproductive Medicine began tracking the data.
How it works: A surrogate carries a pregnancy for intended parents — typically via in vitro fertilization (IVF) with an embryo that uses a donor or the intended mother's egg.
That's called gestational surrogacy, and the surrogate can be referred to as the gestational carrier.
It's an option for people who want biological kids but can't — or can't safely — carry a pregnancy.
Major differences between state laws include:
How a surrogate must be compensated (if not considered "altruistic").
Who becomes the legal parents of a child born via...
"Para ellos, una familia numerosa no solo es una preferencia personal, sino que es una obligación. Creen que tener tantos hijos como sea posible es necesario para evitar un futuro apocalíptico", aseguraba Xavier Orri, periodista y cofundador de Página Internacional...
By Sarah Elizabeth Richards, Scientific American | 04.02.2026
Aggregated News
For the past two decades, fertility specialists have wrestled with a troubling question: Why do Black people have lower live birth rates after in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment than white people?
Researchers have proposed several explanations, such as the fact...
The government in northern Cyprus has said it is launching an investigation after several British families told the BBC they believed they were given the wrong sperm or egg donors during their IVF procedures at local fertility clinics.
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