Surrogacy in Washington State: Requirements, Costs, and Parentage

Surrogacy in Washington state is legal, regulated, and open to intended parents regardless of marital status, sexual orientation, or genetic connection to the child. The framework sits inside the state’s updated Uniform Parentage Act, which took effect in 2019 and governs both gestational and genetic (traditional) surrogacy.¹ Compensated arrangements are permitted, pre-birth parentage orders are available for gestational cases, and every party must have independent legal counsel. The statute also protects the surrogate’s medical autonomy throughout the pregnancy.

Gestational and Genetic Surrogacy Are Treated Differently

Washington recognizes two kinds of surrogacy, and the legal path is not the same for each. A gestational surrogate carries a child conceived with eggs and sperm that are not her own. A genetic surrogate uses her own egg, which makes her biologically related to the child.¹

With gestational surrogacy, parentage vests in the intended parents by operation of law at the moment of birth, and a pre-birth court order can be entered so hospital staff and vital records are ready in advance.² Genetic surrogacy carries extra safeguards. The agreement must be validated by a court before any assisted reproduction begins, pre-birth parentage orders are not available, and the genetic surrogate has 48 hours after birth to withdraw her consent and terminate the agreement.³ That withdrawal window is uncertainty you do not have in a gestational arrangement.

Who Qualifies

Surrogate Requirements

A surrogate must be at least 21 and must have previously given birth to at least one child.⁴ The prior-birth rule exists so the surrogate has firsthand experience with pregnancy and delivery. Before signing, she must complete a medical evaluation by a licensed physician and a mental health consultation with a licensed mental health professional.³

Intended Parent Requirements

Intended parents face no statutory age minimum, but they must complete the same medical evaluation and mental health consultation the surrogate does.³ Neither intended parent needs to be genetically related to the child. Single people and same-sex couples qualify on the same terms as married heterosexual couples.

Residency

At least one party must be a Washington resident. If no one is, the arrangement can still proceed as long as at least one medical evaluation, medical procedure, or mental health consultation related to the surrogacy happens in Washington.⁵ That opens the state to out-of-state and international intended parents using a Washington clinic or Washington surrogate.

What the Written Agreement Must Do

The surrogacy agreement is the legal spine of the whole arrangement, and Washington regulates both how it is executed and what it must say. It has to be signed before any surrogacy-related medical procedure begins, other than the required evaluations. Every signature must be notarized or witnessed, and the surrogate, any spouse of the surrogate, and each intended parent must be named as parties.⁵

On content, the agreement must address:

Parentage transfer. The surrogate and any spouse disclaim any parentage claim. The intended parents accept all parental rights and financial responsibility at birth, regardless of the child’s gender, health, or number of children born.
The surrogate’s right to make all health and welfare decisions about herself and the pregnancy. Any contract term that tries to limit this is void.
How each intended parent will cover the surrogate’s pregnancy-related expenses and the child’s medical costs, including a summary of any health insurance being relied on.
Each party’s termination rights under the statute.

⁶

Each Side Needs Its Own Attorney

The surrogate and the intended parents must each have independent legal counsel, named in the agreement itself, and the intended parents pay for the surrogate’s lawyer.⁵ This is not a formality. It exists to prevent conflicts of interest and to ensure the surrogate is not signing terms she does not fully understand. Legal fees for drafting and reviewing surrogacy agreements typically run between $5,500 and $15,000 combined for both sides.

Compensation and Total Cost

Washington expressly allows paid surrogacy. The statute lets the agreement provide for “payment of consideration and reasonable expenses,” and it sets no cap on what that number can be.⁶

As of 2025, base compensation for a first-time gestational surrogate generally runs $50,000 to $60,000. Experienced surrogates often receive $60,000 to $90,000 or more. On top of base pay, intended parents typically cover maternity clothing, travel, lost wages, and childcare during medical appointments. Add legal fees, agency fees, medical costs, and insurance premiums, and the total for intended parents can easily exceed $150,000.

The Surrogate Controls Her Own Medical Care

Washington draws a bright line here. The agreement must confirm the surrogate’s right to make every health and welfare decision about herself and the pregnancy, including whether to consent to a cesarean section or a multiple embryo transfer. Any provision that tries to override that right is void.⁶ The statute also preserves the surrogate’s right to terminate her pregnancy. Intended parents can discuss preferences; they cannot overrule her.

When Either Side Can Still Walk Away

In a gestational arrangement, either party can terminate the agreement at any time before embryo transfer by giving the other parties written notice. If a transfer fails to result in pregnancy, either side can again terminate before the next attempt.⁷ Once the surrogate is pregnant, the agreement cannot be unilaterally terminated.

Genetic surrogacy is different. The genetic surrogate keeps a 48-hour window after birth to withdraw consent.³

If a gestational agreement is terminated before pregnancy, each intended parent still owes reimbursable expenses the surrogate incurred through the termination date. The surrogate cannot be hit with penalties or liquidated damages for terminating, except in cases of fraud.⁷

Getting the Parentage Order

For gestational surrogacy, the intended parents become the legal parents by operation of law at birth. A court order is not technically required to establish parentage, but you want one anyway, because hospitals and the state registrar of vital statistics need documentation to issue a correct birth certificate.²

Any party can file the petition in superior court before, during, or after the birth. The court confirms the agreement met statutory requirements and then issues an order that:

Declares each intended parent a parent of the child
Declares the surrogate and any spouse are not the parents
Directs the state registrar of vital statistics to list the intended parents on the birth certificate
Protects the privacy of the court record from public inspection

If the order is issued before birth, the court stays enforcement until the child arrives, which means the birth certificate is issued correctly from the start and no adoption proceeding is needed. Most surrogacy attorneys file the petition during the second trimester to avoid last-minute complications.

Insurance Can Make or Break the Budget

The agreement must spell out how the intended parents will cover pregnancy-related medical expenses and the child’s medical costs. If health insurance is part of the plan, the agreement must summarize the relevant policy terms, including any potential liability for the surrogate, third-party liens, and notice requirements that could affect coverage.⁶

Not every policy covers surrogate pregnancies. Some commercial plans contain surrogacy exclusion clauses that void maternity coverage when the insured is acting as a surrogate. If the surrogate’s existing insurance will not cover the pregnancy, intended parents typically have to buy a separate policy or a surrogacy-specific plan, which can run $8,000 to $30,000 in premiums. Marketplace plans under the Affordable Care Act cover pregnancy and delivery as essential health benefits, but the fine print still matters. Reviewing the surrogate’s coverage with a specialized attorney before signing is one of the most important financial steps in the whole process.

Taxes on Surrogate Compensation

Surrogate compensation is generally taxable income. Federal law defines gross income as “all income from whatever source derived,” including compensation for services, and the IRS has not issued guidance carving surrogacy payments out of that definition.⁸ Most tax professionals advise surrogates to report their base compensation.

Some surrogates try to classify payments as reimbursements for pain and suffering to avoid taxation. The argument is weak: the IRS treats pain-and-suffering exclusions as applying to damages received on account of physical injury or sickness, not payments under a voluntary contract. Escrow agencies rarely issue 1099 forms, but the absence of a tax form does not eliminate the reporting obligation. The surrogacy agreement typically states that the intended parents are not responsible for any tax liability the surrogate incurs. Genuine reimbursements for out-of-pocket costs like travel, maternity clothing, and lost wages may be treated differently than base compensation, but the line is not always clean. Professional tax advice before the first payment arrives is worth the cost.

Court Records Stay Private

Surrogacy court filings in Washington, including the parentage petition and supporting documents, are not open to public inspection. Only the parties, the child, their attorneys, and the state registrar of vital statistics can access them, and a court can require anyone else seeking access to demonstrate exigent circumstances.³ For families who want discretion, that is a real advantage over states where family court records are easier to access.

1
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code 26.26A.700 – Surrogacy – Definitions
2
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code 26.26A.750 – Gestational Surrogacy Agreement – Order of Parentage
3
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code Chapter 26.26A – Uniform Parentage Act
4
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code 26.26A.705 – Requirements for Surrogate
5
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code 26.26A.710 – Requirements of Gestational or Genetic Surrogacy Agreement – Process
6
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code 26.26A.715 – Requirements of Gestational or Genetic Surrogacy Agreement – Content
7
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code 26.26A.735 – Gestational Surrogacy Agreement – Termination
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 61 – Gross Income Defined