As you start your surrogacy journey, you may be wondering why is Florida known as the surrogacy state? Well, Florida laws help make the surrogacy process simple for both intended parents and surrogates, making it a prime location for family building. 

  • Surrogates receive a generous base compensation as well as additional benefits. 
  • Florida law recognizes contracts for intended parents (both single and coupled), gestational surrogates, and egg donors as both legal and enforceable. 
  • Florida is the only other state besides California with a codified birth certificate process, enabling couples to establish parental status of their child without requiring a paternity or adoption process. 
  • The parentage rights of a same sex couple are equal to that of heterosexual couples in Florida. 
  • The state is home to more than 70 fertility clinics, with 11 in the Miami and South Florida area. 

A Bounty of Benefits 

Surrogates in Florida receive compensation along with benefits including coverage of medical co-pays, maternity clothing, medication, legal fees, travel expenses, and even lost wages and childcare.  

Recognized Contracts 

Florida law recognizes contracts for intended parents, gestational surrogates, and egg donors as both legal and enforceable. These legal agreements protect the safety and interests of all parties regarding parental rights and responsibilities, reasonable compensation, and legal custody of the child after birth. 

What is Required for Gestational Surrogacy in Florida? 

To make a gestational surrogacy agreement to be enforceable in Florida: 

  • The contract must be in written form. 
  • All parties must be over 18 
  • A medical screening must confirm that the egg/sperm donor or surrogate is in good health.  

Once health screening is complete, a pregnancy is created through in vitro fertilization (IVF). This means that the gestational surrogate is not genetically related to the baby she is carrying. Potential combinations include egg and sperm from the intended parents; the egg from the intended mother and sperm from a separate donor; sperm from an intended father and an egg from a separate donor; or egg and sperm from separate donors. 

A Simplified Birth Certificate Process 

Florida’s codified birth certificate process enables couples to establish parental status of their child without requiring a paternity or adoption process. Within three days of the baby’s birth, parents can petition for a birth certificate establishing them as biological parents. 

Florida uses two legal tracks for confirming parentage via surrogacy – one track for married couples and a different track for single parents or intended parents having no genetic connection to the child. In either instance, all parties are protected as the gestational surrogate is barred from making a claim for the child unless she is, in fact, a biological parent. 

Advantages for Same-Sex Couples 

Florida is a wonderful choice for same-sex couples who wish to begin or add to their family through Surrogacy. The state recognizes same-sex marriage, and gay couples can utilize the state’s expedited and simplified process asserting them as legal parents of the child born via a surrogate. 

Begin the Next Chapter with FSC 

Family Source Consultants, with an office in Miami, has facilitated about 1,000 successful surrogacy matches and continues in its mission of “Bringing Miracles & Dreams Together.” Surrogates with Family Source Consultants have access to great support groups, both online and in-person, which can help to create connections that last a lifetime. 

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Staci Swiderski, CEO and owner of Family Source Consultants, has been a prominent leader in reproductive medicine for over two decades. Through her strategic vision and dedication, she has developed Family Source Consultants into a globally recognized agency specializing in comprehensive egg donation and gestational surrogacy services. Under Staci’s leadership, the agency has become a trusted partner for intended parents, surrogates, and egg donors worldwide, known for its rigorous standards, compassionate support, and commitment to excellence in third-party reproduction.

Her professional insight is uniquely informed by her own family-building experiences. As an intended parent, Staci welcomed her son via gestational surrogacy in 2005, and as a known egg donor, she assisted an infertile couple in expanding their family. These experiences lend a rare depth to her leadership and have fueled her ongoing dedication to ethical, empathetic, and professional support within the field of reproductive medicine.