Becoming a Surrogate in Michigan: What the Process Actually Involves

You may be reading this late at night, before you have mentioned surrogacy to anyone. Here is the short answer. Women in Michigan do become gestational surrogates. In Michigan, though, the legal ground under your agreement needs more attention than it does in most states, because the state's law has a long and unusual history and has recently changed. Understand that part first. Eligibility, pay and logistics come after it.

This page covers who programmes commonly accept, how the process runs, how pay is structured and what travel looks like from Detroit, Grand Rapids, Lansing, Ann Arbor, Traverse City and the Upper Peninsula. Surrogate Compass is an independent platform. We help you understand your options and connect you with agencies. We are not an agency, a clinic or a law firm.

Michigan's Legal Landscape for Surrogacy

Start with the statute. For decades, Michigan surrogacy was governed by the Michigan Surrogate Parenting Act, MCL 722.851 to 722.863, enacted in 1988. It declared surrogate parentage contracts involving compensation void and unenforceable as contrary to public policy. It also attached penalties to certain compensated arrangements. You can read the statute on the Michigan Legislature site.

That Act is the fact most older guidance about Michigan is built on. Under it, the statute's main effect was on the agreement: a court would not enforce a compensated contract. Gestational arrangements still took place, but they rested on agreements the law would not back.

In 2024, Michigan enacted the Assisted Reproduction and Surrogacy Parentage Act. It repealed the 1988 Act, set out a new framework for surrogacy agreements and parentage, and took effect in 2025. The new law carries its own requirements. Whether a particular agreement meets them is a legal question, not one this page can answer. Because the change is recent, some agency pages and older articles may still describe the old rules. Read the current text on the Michigan Legislature site and confirm it with a Michigan attorney before relying on anything, including this page.

Two more points matter from your side:

• Gestational, not traditional. In gestational surrogacy, the embryo is created from the intended parents' or donors' egg and sperm. You have no genetic link to the baby. Agencies and attorneys working with Michigan surrogates work almost exclusively with gestational arrangements.
• Parentage orders depend on the county. Some Michigan courts have issued pre-birth orders, and others have relied on post-birth proceedings. Practice has varied by county and by judge. How courts in Wayne County, Kent County, Ingham County or wherever you deliver handle timing now is a question for an attorney who practises there.

This is why an experienced Michigan reproductive attorney, representing you alone, matters before you sign anything. For plain-language background on Michigan family law, Michigan Legal Help publishes guides for residents.

Who Qualifies to Be a Surrogate in Michigan

No single rulebook applies statewide. Each agency, clinic and physician sets its own criteria. These are the common ones:

• Age. Typically 21 to 40. Some programmes set a narrower or wider range.
• A prior pregnancy, and parenting your own child. A previous uncomplicated pregnancy carried to term shows how your body handles pregnancy. Parenting your own child is widely seen as preparation for carrying a baby you will not raise.
• BMI. Most fertility clinics set a BMI range. This is a medical screening criterion, and the clinic's physician applies it to your records.
• Lifestyle and health. Programmes commonly ask for a non-smoker, no illicit drug use and a stable mental health history.
• Financial stability. Many programmes ask that you are not receiving means-tested public assistance. Ask each agency how it applies this.

You do not need to live near a Michigan agency to apply, and many national programmes accept applicants from several states. Where you live and deliver still matters, because it shapes which Michigan court handles the parentage order.

Agencies that have been described as working with Michigan surrogates include Circle Surrogacy, American Surrogacy, Hatch, Bright Futures Families and ConceiveAbilities. These are agencies, not law firms, and programme coverage changes. Ask any agency directly whether it currently accepts Michigan applicants.

Meeting the common criteria is not qualification. Medical and psychological evaluation, agency review and legal screening decide that. A history of C-sections, preeclampsia or gestational diabetes is not an automatic no or an automatic yes. A physician reviewing your records decides.

The Surrogacy Process in Michigan, Step by Step

The process runs in a fairly fixed order, and the national step-by-step surrogacy guide covers each stage in more depth.

1. Application and initial screening with an agency or, on an independent path, an attorney.
2. Medical screening at a fertility clinic, usually the intended parents' clinic, which may or may not be in Michigan. The Michigan Fertility Alliance is a statewide resource for locating Michigan fertility clinics.
3. Psychological evaluation with an independent licensed mental health professional.
4. Legal review and contract negotiation. Having your own independent attorney is standard practice. Ask who pays for your attorney and confirm it in writing.
5. Embryo transfer and the two-week wait before a pregnancy test.
6. Pregnancy confirmation and transfer to OB care, often with an obstetrician near home.
7. The parentage order process, timed according to Michigan law and county practice.
8. Delivery and post-birth steps, including recovery and any final legal filings. Michigan's vital records office, reachable through michigan.gov, handles birth records.

From matching through delivery, an estimate of 12 to 18 months is common. The full span from first application can run longer. Matching speed, medical readiness, transfers that do not succeed the first time and legal timing all move it.

Compensation and Expenses for Michigan Surrogates

You are asking what you would be paid because it matters to your family. That is a reasonable question, and a vague answer from any programme is worth noticing.

No figure here is a promise, and none is given, because pay is set contract by contract. What is known is the structure:

• Base compensation varies by agency, by whether you have carried before and by the negotiated contract. First-time and experienced surrogate rates commonly differ. An agency's advertised top rate is not what a first-time surrogate is typically offered.
• Expense reimbursements are usually separate from base pay. Contracts often address maternity clothing, travel, lost wages, childcare during appointments and housekeeping if a physician orders bed rest. Each is negotiated, so ask which apply and how they are paid.
• Insurance. Your own health plan may or may not cover a surrogate pregnancy. Ask how the programme reviews your policy, whether a separate policy is arranged if yours excludes surrogacy, and who pays for it. Ask the same about life insurance: whether it is arranged, who pays and how long it runs.
• Escrow. Programmes commonly route payments through an escrow account held by a third party rather than having intended parents pay you directly. Ask who manages it and when funds are released.

Michigan's history makes drafting especially important. The 1988 Act voided compensated contracts. The newer law sets its own requirements. How your payments are written into the agreement is exactly what your independent attorney reviews.

Tax treatment of surrogacy compensation is not universally settled. A tax professional is the right person to ask how your payments would be treated.

What Surrogacy Looks Like Across Michigan

Your location shapes how far you drive and which court is involved.

Metro Detroit. The Detroit area, across Wayne County, Oakland County and Macomb County, has the state's largest concentration of fertility clinics and reproductive attorneys. If you live here, clinic visits are likely to be relatively short drives.

Grand Rapids and West Michigan. Surrogacy activity around Grand Rapids has been growing. Kent County is the court many West Michigan surrogates would deal with.

Lansing. The Lansing area sits close to state government and has some reproductive law practices. Ingham County is the local court.

Ann Arbor. University of Michigan Health offers fertility services in Ann Arbor, in Washtenaw County, which also places Washtenaw County surrogates within reach of Detroit.

Traverse City, northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula. If you live near Traverse City or in the Upper Peninsula, expect to travel to Detroit, Grand Rapids or Ann Arbor for clinic appointments. Travel reimbursement is commonly written into contracts. Ask how mileage, lodging and meals are handled.

Two points apply statewide. Courts in some counties have more established surrogacy practice than others, so an attorney familiar with your delivery county matters. And you do not need to live near the intended parents. Matches often cross state lines.

Choosing an Agency or Going Independent in Michigan

There are two broad paths, and neither is right for everyone.

Agency-assisted surrogacy. An agency typically provides matching, case management, escrow administration and access to psychological support. Agencies do not give legal advice.

Independent surrogacy. You and the intended parents find each other without an agency. The medical and legal steps are the same, but more coordination falls to you. Given Michigan's legal history, both you and the intended parents need experienced reproductive attorneys on either path.

Questions worth asking any agency:

• How do you handle Michigan's legal requirements, including the change from the 1988 Act?
• Which Michigan attorneys do surrogates you work with typically use?
• How is escrow managed, and who holds the account?
• Do you currently accept surrogates who live in my county?

Comparing state frameworks can help. The Illinois surrogacy guide describes a dedicated statute, and the Ohio surrogacy guide describes a state with no surrogacy statute.

Surrogate Compass's role ends at information and introductions. We do not screen, match, contract or pay, and we do not give legal advice. A licensed Michigan reproductive attorney is the right resource for contract and parentage questions.

Preparing for the Emotional and Physical Reality

This decision takes a year or more of your life, and it helps to say so plainly.

Physically, it starts before pregnancy, with fertility medications and injections ahead of transfer. Then come pregnancy, delivery and recovery.

At home, agencies and clinics typically require support from a spouse or partner. Your children will know you are pregnant, and you will decide how to explain it to them.

Emotionally, feelings of attachment, grief after delivery and a sometimes complicated relationship with the intended parents are all common. The psychological evaluation addresses these. It does not resolve them. Support can come from agency case managers, independent counsellors and surrogate support communities in Michigan. Women who have carried before are often a more reliable guide to how it feels than any agency's marketing.

Next Step

If you want a clearer read on your own situation, Surrogate Compass offers a free eligibility review with no obligation. The review looks at your age, your pregnancy and delivery history, where in Michigan you live, and the other criteria programmes commonly use. It shows whether your situation looks likely to meet those common criteria and which programmes serve your area. It is not approval. Agencies and clinics run their own screening, and a physician decides on medical clearance.

Whether a surrogate may be entitled to seek any of these depends on the specific agreement and applicable law, and a Michigan reproductive attorney is the right person to advise on that.

When you are ready, contact Surrogate Compass to request your free eligibility review. There is no deadline, and you can come back whenever it suits you.