For women who qualify, surrogacy can mean helping another family become parents while receiving meaningful compensation for the time, physical demands and responsibility involved.

Your exact compensation, screening requirements and travel needs will depend on the program you choose and where you live in Oregon.

Becoming a surrogate in Oregon is an option for women who meet the state’s legal requirements and an agency or fertility clinic’s medical standards. Oregon allows compensated gestational surrogacy, and prospective surrogates must be at least 21, have previously given birth and complete required medical, mental health and legal steps before entering a qualifying agreement.

A reputable surrogacy agency can coordinate screening, matching, legal work, compensation and medical logistics while helping you understand what the process will require from application through delivery.

What Are the Requirements to Be a Surrogate in Oregon?

The requirements to become a surrogate in Oregon under ORS 109.222 include:

• Being at least 21 years old
• Having previously given birth to at least one child
• Completing a medical evaluation related to the surrogacy arrangement with a licensed health care provider
• Completing a mental health consultation with a licensed mental health care provider
• Retaining independent legal representation of her choice, with the intended parent or parents paying for that representation

These requirements became part of Oregon law through Oregon Laws 2025, chapter 592.

The gestational-surrogacy provisions apply to qualifying agreements entered into on or after September 26, 2025, as well as certain earlier agreements amended or restated after that date.

Oregon law sets the minimum legal requirements.

Agencies and fertility clinics commonly use additional medical standards based partly on the American Society for Reproductive Medicine’s (ASRM) gestational carrier guidance.

ASRM recommends that a gestational carrier generally:

• Be of legal age and preferably between ages 21 and 45
• Have experienced at least one uncomplicated term pregnancy
• Ideally have no more than five previous deliveries
• Ideally have no more than three previous cesarean deliveries
• Have an adequate support system and stable home environment
• Complete appropriate medical, infectious-disease and psychosocial screening
• Receive independent legal counseling

Clinic standards can be more specific.

Portland-based ORM Fertility, for example, publishes gestational-carrier recommendations addressing age, BMI, previous term deliveries and prior C-sections in addition to medical screening.

A prior C-section, a particular BMI, medication use or another health factor may affect eligibility, but those circumstances are usually evaluated by the agency and fertility clinic rather than decided by Oregon law alone.

How to Become a Surrogate in Oregon

The process of becoming a surrogate in Oregon generally involves seven steps, from application through pregnancy and delivery.

After you apply, the agency typically reviews your basic qualifications before moving you into screening, matching, medical clearance and the legal process.

1. Apply to become a surrogate. You’ll provide information about your age, pregnancy history, health and household. The initial application helps determine whether you appear to meet Oregon’s legal baseline and the agency’s eligibility standards.
2. Complete surrogate screening. Screening commonly includes medical-record review, background checks and psychosocial screening. Oregon separately requires a medical evaluation and mental health consultation before you enter a qualifying gestational surrogacy agreement.
3. Match with intended parents. You should have the opportunity to review prospective intended parents, speak with them and decide whether your communication preferences and expectations are compatible. A mutual match gives you a meaningful role in choosing who you carry for.
4. Receive medical clearance. The intended parents’ fertility clinic typically conducts additional testing before embryo transfer. Where you live can affect this step because much of Oregon’s fertility care is concentrated around Portland and Eugene.
5. Complete the gestational carrier agreement. You and the intended parents will have separate attorneys. Oregon requires the intended parents to pay for your independent legal representation while allowing you to select your own lawyer.
6. Complete the embryo transfer. After medical and legal clearance, you’ll follow the fertility clinic’s medication protocol and attend the transfer. Some compensation packages include separate payments for medications, transfer or other pre-pregnancy milestones.
7. Continue through pregnancy and delivery. After pregnancy is established, base compensation is generally paid according to your contract. Your professionals should also coordinate approved expenses, insurance issues, communication and delivery planning.

How Much Do Surrogates Make in Oregon?

Surrogates in Oregon may earn about $65,000–$100,000+ in total compensation, although actual compensation varies by experience, agency and contract terms.

Useful benchmarks include:

• First-time surrogate base pay: About $50,000–$65,000
• Experienced surrogate base pay: About $65,000–$85,000 or more
• Potential total compensation: About $65,000–$100,000+

Base compensation is the core amount you’re paid for your time, physical commitment and responsibilities during pregnancy.

Additional compensation can include payments for events such as medications, embryo transfer, invasive procedures, a C-section or carrying multiples.

Allowances may cover recurring items such as maternity clothing or other pregnancy-related needs.

Reimbursements repay approved expenses such as mileage, flights, hotels, childcare and lost wages. Those amounts are different from compensation you earn.

Where you live in Oregon can make those reimbursements especially important.

A Portland-area surrogate may be able to travel to a fertility clinic and return home the same day. Someone in Bend, Klamath Falls, Pendleton, Grants Pass or a coastal community may need hotel stays, longer drives and more childcare or time away from work.

That is why two Oregon programs offering the same base pay may not provide the same practical financial value.

Surrogacy Laws in Oregon

Surrogacy is legal in Oregon, including compensated gestational surrogacy agreements that satisfy the state’s statutory requirements.

Oregon’s current gestational-surrogacy framework appears in ORS 109.222 through 109.244 and was enacted as part of the state’s 2025 parentage-law update.

Several provisions directly affect prospective surrogates:

• ORS 109.222 sets eligibility requirements. A surrogate must be at least 21, have previously given birth, complete required medical and mental health evaluations and have independent legal counsel paid for by the intended parents.
• ORS 109.224 establishes an Oregon connection requirement. At least one party must live in Oregon, the embryo transfer resulting in pregnancy must occur in Oregon or all parties must intend for the child to be born in Oregon.
• ORS 109.224 also regulates execution of the agreement. The surrogate, each intended parent and the surrogate’s spouse, if applicable, must be parties. The agreement must be written and signatures must be notarized or made under penalty of perjury.
• ORS 109.226 permits compensation and reasonable expenses.
• ORS 109.226 also preserves the surrogate’s right to make health and welfare decisions regarding herself and the pregnancy, including reproductive health care decisions.
• ORS 109.236 gives parties a statutory right to terminate before embryo transfer. If a transfer does not result in pregnancy, termination may also occur before a later transfer.
• ORS 109.238 addresses parentage. Subject to statutory exceptions, intended parents become the child’s legal parents when the child is born under a compliant agreement.
• ORS 109.242 provides a process for obtaining a parentage judgment addressing the intended parents, the surrogate and the child’s birth record.
• ORS 109.244 addresses enforceability and remedies for agreements that comply with Oregon law.

These current Oregon surrogacy statutes are especially important because older online resources may describe Oregon as a state with little or no statutory surrogacy framework.

Oregon’s 2025 legislation changed that legal landscape substantially, so current law should guide any agreement entered into today.

Gestational Carrier Agreements in Oregon

An Oregon gestational carrier agreement must address more than compensation.

State law requires the agreement to cover legal representation, parentage, expenses, insurance, medical decision-making and termination rights before the embryo transfer that results in pregnancy.

Under ORS 109.224, the gestational surrogate, every intended parent and the surrogate’s spouse, if applicable, must sign the agreement. Each party must acknowledge receiving a copy, and signatures must be notarized or made under penalty of perjury.

The intended parents must pay for your independent legal representation, while you retain the right to choose your own attorney.

Oregon also requires the agreement to address how surrogacy-related expenses and the child’s medical expenses will be covered.

When health insurance will be used, the contract must summarize relevant policy provisions, possible liability of the surrogate, third-party liens, other available coverage and notice requirements that could affect coverage.

That makes Oregon contract requirements particularly relevant when your existing health plan may contain surrogacy exclusions or other restrictions.

Before signing, you should understand:

• Whether your current policy covers a surrogate pregnancy
• Whether the policy contains a surrogacy exclusion
• Whether another policy may need to be purchased
• Who will pay premiums, deductibles and eligible medical costs
• Whether a health plan may assert a lien or seek reimbursement
• Whether the insurer requires notice of the surrogate pregnancy
• What happens if coverage remains uncertain

Your agreement will also typically address:

• Base and additional compensation
• Payment schedule
• Travel expenses
• Lost wages
• Childcare and household assistance
• Fertility treatment
• Multiple pregnancy
• Bed rest and pregnancy complications
• Communication expectations
• Delivery planning
• Postpartum expenses

You do not have to live in Oregon simply to work with an Oregon-based surrogacy agency.

However, for an Oregon gestational surrogacy agreement to satisfy the state’s geographic requirement, at least one party must live in Oregon, the embryo transfer resulting in pregnancy must occur in Oregon or all parties must intend for the child to be born in Oregon.

Surrogacy Attorneys in Oregon

Oregon law requires you to have independent legal representation of your choice, paid for by the intended parents.

Current Oregon professionals handling assisted-reproduction or gestational-surrogacy matters include:

• Robin E. Pope (Portland): Handles Oregon family-formation matters including gestational-surrogacy agreements and parentage.
• BCK Attorneys at Law (Portland): Handles assisted-reproduction matters including surrogacy contracts and parentage work.
• Watkinson Laird Rubenstein (Eugene): Provides assisted-reproduction legal services in Oregon, including gestational-surrogacy matters.
• Dessert & Saul Law (Albany): Handles family-formation matters including surrogacy and adoption.

An attorney familiar with Oregon’s current statutory framework can review your contract from your perspective and explain how the state’s insurance, compensation, termination and parentage provisions apply to your arrangement.

Professional availability changes, so confirm that the attorney you’re considering is currently accepting gestational-surrogacy matters.

How to Choose a Surrogacy Agency in Oregon

Look for an agency that is transparent about compensation, screens intended parents thoroughly, gives you a meaningful role in matching and clearly explains legal, insurance and expense protections.

Compare agencies based on:

• Compensation: Ask for base compensation and total potential compensation separately. Find out which payments are guaranteed, which depend on specific circumstances and which are reimbursements rather than earnings.
• Intended-parent screening: Ask what screening prospective intended parents complete before matching, including whether criminal or FBI-level background checks are used.
• Mutual matching: You should have the opportunity to review and speak with intended parents before deciding whether you want to carry for them.
• Independent legal representation: Oregon law gives you the right to choose your own attorney at the intended parents’ expense.
• Insurance review: Ask who reviews your policy and how Oregon’s required insurance disclosures will be addressed in your contract.
• Escrow: Find out where compensation and expense funds are held, when the account is funded and how reimbursements are processed.
• Expense coverage: Ask how mileage, hotels, meals, childcare, lost wages and other approved expenses are handled.
• Local coordination: Find out which appointments can happen near home and which require travel to Portland, Eugene or an out-of-state clinic.
• Mental health support: Oregon requires a mental health consultation before a qualifying agreement. Ask what support remains available during pregnancy and postpartum.

The role of a surrogacy agency extends beyond matching. Agency coordination can affect how quickly expense issues, legal questions, travel needs and communication problems are resolved.

If you live outside the Portland-Eugene corridor, compare travel policies as carefully as compensation.

A program that works conveniently for someone in Beaverton may require considerably more time and travel for someone in Eastern or Southern Oregon.

Questions to Ask an Oregon Surrogacy Agency Before You Apply

Before applying, ask questions that show how the agency handles compensation, protection, matching, insurance and Oregon-specific logistics in practice.

• What is my base compensation and estimated total compensation?
• How does compensation differ for experienced surrogates?
• What Oregon-specific legal requirements will my agreement need to satisfy?
• Can I choose my own attorney?
• How will my health insurance be reviewed?
• What happens if my current insurance does not cover a surrogate pregnancy?
• Where would I go for fertility-clinic screening and embryo transfer?
• Who pays mileage, hotels, meals, childcare and lost wages if I have to travel?
• Who holds the escrow account and when is it funded?
• How are intended parents screened?
• Do I choose which intended parents I match with?
• What happens if the match ends before embryo transfer?
• Who handles payment, insurance or travel problems after I become pregnant?

A useful comparison of surrogacy agency services should show what those services mean for your finances, choices and daily experience rather than simply whether an agency says it offers support.

The most useful answers are specific. You should know who pays, who makes decisions, who you contact and what happens when circumstances change.

Surrogacy Agencies in Oregon

Oregon surrogates can work with agencies based in the state or with national agencies that accept qualified applicants from Oregon.

Current options include:

• American Surrogacy (National): Serves prospective surrogates in Oregon and publishes separate compensation information for first-time and experienced surrogates.
• Northwest Surrogacy Center (Portland): An Oregon-based agency providing matching and case coordination for gestational surrogates and intended parents.
• All Families Surrogacy (Beaverton): An Oregon-based gestational-surrogacy agency offering matching, compensation coordination and ongoing case support.
• Quest Surrogacy (Portland): A Portland-based agency working with gestational carriers and intended parents, including LGBT families.

Take the Next Step Toward Becoming a Surrogate in Oregon

If you’re seriously considering becoming a surrogate in Oregon, your next step is to confirm whether your pregnancy and health history fit both Oregon’s legal requirements and the additional standards of the agency and fertility clinic you’re considering.

Compensation matters, but so do Oregon’s independent-counsel requirement, insurance disclosures, travel logistics, expense policies and your ability to choose intended parents.

Those details determine what the experience will actually ask of you and your family.

Whether you live in Portland, the Willamette Valley, Central Oregon, Southern Oregon, along the Coast or farther east, compare programs based on how well they fit your location, financial goals and expectations for support.

Connect with a surrogacy professional to check your eligibility, understand what you could earn and identify Oregon programs that may fit what you’re looking for.