No U.S. state fully bans surrogacy outright in 2025, but the legal landscape varies dramatically. Some states welcome all forms of surrogacy with clear legal frameworks, while others make surrogacy contracts void and unenforceable, or restrict who can use them so narrowly that most intended parents are effectively shut out. The practical answer depends on the type of surrogacy, whether compensation is involved, and who the intended parents are.
Michigan’s Recent Shift
Until 2024, Michigan was the only state in the country that made surrogacy contracts a criminal offense. Entering into a commercial surrogacy agreement could result in fines and jail time. That changed in April 2024 when Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed the Michigan Family Protection Act, a package of nine bills that legalized and regulated surrogacy, decriminalized surrogacy contracts, ensured surrogates could be fairly compensated, and required independent legal representation and medical screening for surrogates before they enter an agreement. The law also extended equal treatment to LGBTQ+ parents and children born through assisted reproductive technology.
Michigan’s shift left no state with an outright criminal ban on surrogacy. But “not criminal” and “legally supported” are very different things.
States Where Surrogacy Contracts Are Void
Nebraska explicitly declares surrogacy contracts void and unenforceable under state law. The statute defines a surrogate parenthood contract as one where a woman is compensated for bearing a child of a man who is not her husband. If you enter into such a contract in Nebraska, a court will not enforce it. The biological father retains parental rights and obligations, but the contract itself has no legal weight. That means if a dispute arises between the surrogate and the intended parents, there is no contractual framework to resolve it.
This doesn’t mean surrogacy never happens in Nebraska. It means the arrangement operates without legal protection. If something goes wrong, you have no contract a court will honor. For many intended parents and surrogates, that level of risk is a dealbreaker.
Louisiana’s Narrow Exceptions
Louisiana is the most restrictive state that does allow some form of gestational surrogacy. A 2016 law legalized gestational surrogacy agreements, but only under a very specific set of conditions: the intended parents must be Louisiana residents, they must be a married heterosexual couple, and both must be genetically related to the child. That last requirement means no donor eggs and no donor sperm.
Compensating surrogates is forbidden. Any surrogacy arrangement that uses donor gametes is considered unlawful, and violations can carry fines up to $50,000 or imprisonment up to 10 years. The law also imposes extensive contractual requirements, and failing to meet them can trigger both civil and criminal penalties. For same-sex couples, unmarried couples, single intended parents, or anyone who needs an egg or sperm donor, Louisiana’s surrogacy framework is effectively off-limits.
States Without Clear Surrogacy Laws
Several states have no surrogacy-specific statutes at all. In these states, the legality of surrogacy exists in a gray area shaped by court precedent, attorney general opinions, and how individual judges interpret existing family law. The practical effect varies: some of these states have a track record of courts granting parentage orders, making surrogacy workable in practice if not in statute. Others have little or no case law to rely on, leaving intended parents and surrogates exposed to legal uncertainty.
The absence of a law is not the same as a ban, but it creates real complications. Without a clear legal framework, establishing parentage can require a post-birth adoption rather than a pre-birth court order. That process is slower, more expensive, and leaves a window where the intended parents have no legal claim to the child they helped conceive.
Gestational vs. Traditional Surrogacy
The distinction between gestational and traditional surrogacy matters enormously in states that do regulate the practice. In gestational surrogacy, the surrogate carries an embryo created from the intended parents’ or donors’ eggs and sperm, with no genetic connection to the surrogate herself. In traditional surrogacy, the surrogate’s own egg is used, making her the biological mother.
Most states with surrogacy-friendly laws only protect gestational surrogacy agreements. Traditional surrogacy is treated differently, and in many jurisdictions it is either unenforceable or not addressed by statute. Louisiana, for example, only permits gestational surrogacy, and only under the strict conditions described above. Even in states with supportive surrogacy frameworks, traditional surrogacy often falls outside the legal protections available to gestational arrangements.
States That Recently Legalized Surrogacy
The legal trend over the past several years has been toward legalization and regulation rather than restriction. New York banned compensated surrogacy for decades before passing the Child-Parent Security Act, which took effect in February 2021. The law legalized gestational surrogacy with a detailed set of protections: surrogates must have independent legal counsel, health insurance coverage, life insurance, and access to a Surrogates’ Bill of Rights. Surrogacy organizations operating in New York must be licensed by the state. At least one intended parent must be a U.S. citizen or a lawful permanent resident of New York for at least six months.
Michigan’s 2024 legalization followed a similar pattern, replacing a punitive ban with a regulated framework. These changes reflect a broader shift in how states approach surrogacy, moving from prohibition toward consumer-protection-style regulation that sets standards for contracts, compensation, and medical screening.
What This Means if You’re Considering Surrogacy
If you’re exploring surrogacy, your home state matters less than where the surrogacy takes place. Many intended parents work with surrogates in states with well-established legal frameworks, regardless of where they themselves live. States like California, Connecticut, and Illinois are popular for this reason: they have clear statutes, grant pre-birth parentage orders, and place few restrictions on who can be an intended parent.
The key factors to evaluate in any state are whether surrogacy contracts are enforceable, whether compensated surrogacy is permitted, whether pre-birth orders are available (so your name goes on the birth certificate from day one), and whether there are restrictions based on marital status, sexual orientation, or genetic connection to the child. A reproductive law attorney licensed in the state where the surrogacy will take place is essential for navigating these specifics, since the legal details can change with new legislation or court rulings.