Pursuing surrogacy in Chicago means meeting the eligibility rules in the Illinois Gestational Surrogacy Act and budgeting roughly $140,000 to $200,000 for a complete arrangement. Illinois is one of the most surrogacy-friendly states in the country, but the statute sets firm requirements for both the surrogate and the intended parents, and the full cost of becoming or hiring a Chicago surrogate mother reaches well beyond the surrogate’s compensation itself.
Who Qualifies to Be a Surrogate
A woman must clear several statutory thresholds before she can sign a gestational surrogacy contract in Illinois. She must be at least 21 years old and must have given birth to at least one child of her own. Both a medical evaluation and a mental health evaluation are required before the contract is signed.1Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 750 ILCS 47/20 – Eligibility
She also needs her own independent attorney, licensed in Illinois and chosen by her, who advises her on the contract and its legal consequences throughout the process. The intended parents pay for that representation.
Health insurance is part of the eligibility test, not just a contract detail. The surrogate must carry a policy covering major medical treatment and hospitalization, with coverage running through the pregnancy and for at least eight weeks after delivery.1Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 750 ILCS 47/20 – Eligibility If she doesn’t already have qualifying coverage, the intended parents can buy a policy on her behalf under the surrogacy agreement.
One more rule separates gestational surrogacy from traditional surrogacy: the surrogate cannot provide the egg. The physician who performs the embryo transfer must certify that the embryo was not created with her genetic material.2Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 750 ILCS 47/35 – Establishment of Parentage
Who Qualifies to Use a Surrogate
Intended parents face their own set of statutory requirements, and they are easy to overlook. Each intended parent must be at least 21, must be experiencing infertility as defined under the Illinois Insurance Code, and must complete a mental health evaluation before signing the contract. Each must also have their own independent attorney licensed in Illinois for the duration of the arrangement.1Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 750 ILCS 47/20 – Eligibility
Illinois is unusually inclusive about who those parents can be. The Act permits married couples, unmarried couples, same-sex couples, and single individuals to pursue gestational surrogacy. A 2025 amendment removed the previous requirement that at least one intended parent be genetically related to the child, so intended parents using both donor eggs and donor sperm now get the same statutory protections as those using their own gametes.
What a Chicago Surrogacy Actually Costs
A complete gestational surrogacy arrangement in the Chicago area typically runs between $140,000 and $200,000. The number surprises many intended parents, so it helps to see where the money goes.
The largest line item is surrogate compensation. First-time surrogates generally receive $60,000 to $75,000 in base pay. Experienced surrogates may earn $85,000 to $125,000 or more. Agency fees for matching, case management, and coordination typically add another $20,000 to $50,000.
The remaining costs stack up quickly:
- IVF and embryo transfer, often $15,000 to $30,000 per cycle, with no guarantee the first cycle will succeed.
- Legal fees for drafting, negotiating, and finalizing the contract and parentage paperwork for both sides.
- Insurance premiums for a new or supplemental policy if the surrogate’s existing coverage won’t apply.
- Uncovered medical expenses, including copays and deductibles.
- Escrow management fees for the agent who holds and disburses funds throughout the arrangement.
Straightforward cases can land below $140,000. Arrangements involving donor matching, multiple transfers, or pregnancy complications can push well past $200,000.
The Insurance Trap
The statute requires the surrogate to carry health insurance, but the law doesn’t guarantee her existing policy will actually pay for a surrogacy pregnancy. Many private plans contain explicit exclusion clauses for surrogate pregnancies. If that language is in the policy, the insurer won’t cover maternity claims tied to the surrogacy, no matter how comprehensive the plan otherwise looks.
Before anyone signs a contract, an attorney or insurance specialist should read the surrogate’s policy word by word for a surrogacy exclusion. If none exists, the insurer generally has to cover the pregnancy like any other. If one does exist, the intended parents need to buy a specialized surrogacy policy. These supplemental plans, often underwritten through specialty markets like Lloyd’s of London, work much like high-deductible self-pay coverage, with deductibles commonly running from $15,000 to $40,000 depending on coverage level and whether the pregnancy involves multiples.
The Affordable Care Act requires marketplace plans to cover maternity care as an essential health benefit, which gives rise to a theoretical argument that surrogacy exclusions violate federal law. Fighting an insurance denial through litigation during an active pregnancy is unrealistic, so most families secure dedicated surrogacy coverage instead of testing the theory. Skipping this step is one of the costliest mistakes intended parents make. An uninsured hospital delivery with complications can easily exceed $100,000.
How Payments Are Taxed
The IRS has never issued a ruling specific to gestational surrogacy compensation, which leaves both sides working through genuine ambiguity. A tax professional experienced in reproductive law is worth the consultation fee.
For surrogates, federal law defines gross income broadly to include compensation from any source.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 61 – Gross Income Defined A separate provision excludes damages received for personal physical injuries or physical sickness.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 104 – Compensation for Injuries or Sickness Some reproductive attorneys argue that surrogacy pay falls under the physical-injury exclusion because the surrogate undergoes hormonal treatments, invasive medical procedures, and genuine physical risk. Whether the argument holds depends heavily on how the contract characterizes each payment. Amounts tied to specific physical demands or medical expenses have a stronger case for exclusion than flat monthly allowances. One common mistake: assuming payments are tax-free because no 1099 arrives. The obligation to report income exists whether or not a form is issued.
For intended parents, surrogate compensation, agency fees, and the surrogate’s medical care are generally not deductible. The IRS treats these as personal expenses rather than the taxpayer’s own medical costs. IVF-related costs performed on the intended parent or their spouse, including fertility medications, egg retrieval, embryo creation, and lab fees, may qualify as deductible medical expenses. Only the portion exceeding 7.5% of adjusted gross income counts toward the deduction, so intended parents with moderate incomes may not see much benefit.
Why Parentage Works So Smoothly in Illinois
This is where Illinois law separates itself from most other states. Under the Gestational Surrogacy Act, parentage is established by operation of law the moment the child is born. No adoption proceeding, no post-birth court order, no waiting period.2Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 750 ILCS 47/35 – Establishment of Parentage
Making that work requires a stack of written certifications before delivery. The intended parents each certify they met the eligibility requirements. The surrogate certifies her own compliance and confirms she did not provide the egg. The physician who performed the transfer certifies the embryo was not created with her genetic material. Each side’s attorney certifies that the parties substantially met the contract requirements. Every certification must be witnessed by two competent adults who are not the surrogate, her spouse, or an intended parent.2Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 750 ILCS 47/35 – Establishment of Parentage
The forms are prescribed by the Illinois Department of Public Health. Originals go to the hospital’s medical records department before delivery, and copies go to the IDPH Division of Vital Records, also before the birth.5Illinois Department of Public Health. Surrogacy When everything is filed correctly, the intended parents’ names appear directly on the original birth certificate, and the surrogate has no parental rights or obligations from that moment forward.
Timeline From First Call to Delivery
The practical timeline from first consultation to birth typically runs 12 to 18 months. Most intended parents start by selecting a surrogacy agency, though some work directly with attorneys and find a surrogate independently. Agency-assisted matching involves profile reviews, interviews, and confirming compatibility on both sides. Once a match is confirmed, each party retains independent Illinois-licensed counsel to draft and negotiate the contract.
The contract must be signed before any medical procedures begin, other than the evaluations needed to establish eligibility.6Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 750 ILCS 47/25 – Requirements for a Gestational Surrogacy Contract After execution, the surrogate begins clinical screening at the fertility center. Screening typically takes four to eight weeks and includes blood work, ultrasounds, a uterine evaluation, a physical exam, and a psychological evaluation covering her understanding of the process, her motivations, and her support network.
Once she clears screening, the IVF process begins. The intended mother or an egg donor undergoes retrieval, embryos are created and sometimes genetically tested, and one or more are transferred to the surrogate. A pregnancy test follows about 10 to 14 days after transfer. Not every transfer results in pregnancy, so plan emotionally and financially for the possibility of multiple cycles.
During pregnancy, the legal team prepares the Section 35 parentage certifications. Waiting until the last minute is a preventable mistake, because complications or early delivery can turn a routine filing into an emergency. When the baby is born, the intended parents’ names go on the birth certificate, they take custody immediately, and the escrow agent releases final compensation to the surrogate.