Skip to Content (Press Enter)

globe

The Ultimate Guide to Surrogacy in Alabama

If you're intended parents with dreams of growing your family through surrogacy, or a young woman considering becoming a surrogate mother, starting the process can be exciting but a little daunting. As one of the most experienced surrogacy agencies in the U.S., Circle Surrogacy can help you navigate surrogacy in Huntsville, Birmingham, Montgomery, or any other Alabama community. We help intended parents find surrogates and guide women through the process of becoming surrogate mothers.

 Table of Contents

Table of Contents

 Family Supporting Pregnant Surrogate

An Overview of Surrogacy in Alabama

Alabama currently has no laws regulating surrogacy, but surrogacy professionals have established safe, agreed-upon procedures for this family-building process in the state.

Couples and individuals from a variety of backgrounds, ages, and sexual orientations use surrogacy to build their families with each unique journey.

Intended parents in Alabama we work with may be:

• Heterosexual couples who have struggled with infertility
• Intended mothers who are unable to carry a child
• Intended parents who have a genetic defect or health condition they don't want to pass onto the child
• LGBTQ+ intended parents who want to have a genetic link to their baby

This page is an excellent resource for people considering surrogacy in Alabama to learn more about what the state's surrogacy process involves, how to become parents or a surrogate mother, and what surrogacy costs.

Surrogacy in Alabama for Intended Parents

Surrogacy and egg donation in Alabama have been helping straight and LGBTQ+ singles and couples grow their families for decades. Intended parents are able to become parents in Alabama safely.

Below you'll find information about surrogacy in Alabama, including what the surrogacy process looks like, how much surrogacy costs in Alabama, how to find a surrogate or egg donor, and so much more. The process can feel overwhelming at first, but the more you read and research, the more familiar it will become to you. Many professionals are involved in a surrogacy journey, which is life-changing experience.

We're ready to help intended parents from Huntsville, Birmingham, Montgomery, or any other Alabama community. Read on to learn more about becoming a parent through surrogacy.

The Surrogacy Process in Alabama

A surrogacy journey involves several milestones that lead to delivery day. Understanding and preparing for each of these steps is an important part of the process, whether you are an intended parent or a surrogate mother.

Choosing to pursue surrogacy independently—without the assistance of a surrogacy agency—is an option available to anyone. That said, working with an agency such as Circle Surrogacy, which has over 25 years of experience, helps you navigate the milestones and events throughout your journey. This enables you to concentrate on getting ready for your baby's arrival.

Choosing an Agency
If you do decide to work with an agency, it's important to research your options. Some agencies may fit better with your specific needs and outlook. Choose one where you sense good chemistry, and which shares your views about the surrogacy process. It’s important to work with an agency whose lawyers are knowledgeable in ART (Assisted Reproductive Technology) and surrogacy law, especially in a state such as Alabama, which doesn't have specific state laws regarding surrogacy.
Finding a Surrogate and Egg Donor
Finding the perfect surrogate match assisted by our Matching Team usually occurs after intended parents find and match with an egg donor (if needed). Our egg donor database is a resource where you'll find bright and ambitious young women who are excited for the opportunity to help you grow your family.
Pregnancy and Parenthood
Developing a close relationship with your surrogate during pregnancy is an important part of the process. You may even be able to visit for her appointments if she lives close to you. Our agency supports you through each milestone, helping you prepare to travel for the birth and ensuring you have everything you need to return home safely.
 Starting the Surrogacy Process

Starting the Surrogacy Process

You've decided that you'd like to grow your family through surrogacy (hooray!), and you've selected an agency with whom you'd like to meet. What's next? Scheduling a consultation is the first step. It's important to meet with the agencies you're considering so you can share your story, ask questions, and see if the agency team is a good fit for your journey.

Circle Surrogacy offers complimentary consultations for intended parents who are emotionally and financially ready to begin a surrogacy journey within the next 12 months. These private consultations educate intended parents on the surrogacy process, surrogacy costs, and how to find and match with a surrogate mother.

We offer both in-person meetings and free consultations via Skype or Zoom. If you're not ready for a full consultation but would like more information, you can schedule a short pre-consultation, which lasts about 30 minutes and is a great way to ask questions and learn more.

 Becoming a Parent in Alabama

Becoming a Parent in Alabama

One of the most joyous moments you'll experience is welcoming a baby into your family. In Alabama, becoming a parent through surrogacy is a safe, streamlined process when working with an agency such as Circle Surrogacy. You can grow your family through surrogacy and/or egg donation.

We know that one of the first questions intended parents ask is how much surrogacy costs. Our comprehensive cost sheets outline the surrogacy costs you should expect in a typical surrogacy journey.

How Much Does Surrogacy Cost in Alabama?

We can help you understand the surrogacy programs available, the cost of surrogacy, and how much you can expect to pay for egg donation. Circle Surrogacy is transparent in its surrogacy options, costs, and what you can expect along your journey.

Circle Surrogacy offers an all-inclusive cost program: our Journey Protection Guarantee program.

Journey Protection Guarantee Program surrogacy costs in Alabama:

Surrogacy only: $157,750
Surrogacy plus egg donation: $184,750
(both prices exclude IVF)

Our Journey Protection Guarantee offers Intended Parents:

  • An all-inclusive program that covers all Surrogate fees and expenses for unlimited transfers and any complications that may arise during your journey
  • No surprise costs or invoices, even in scenarios that require a rematch with a new Surrogate

Circle's costs include all agency fees, attorneys’ fees, screening and surrogate fees, and insurance costs. They do not include IVF costs.

The costs outlined above are for our Surrogacy Only and Surrogacy Plus Egg Donation Programs. For more information about the costs of our other programs, please email us or call us at 617.439.9900.

Financing Surrogacy Costs

Some intended parents may have the opportunity to qualify for financing for their journey. Please speak with our Parent Intake Team or Consultation Team or fill out this form.

 Finding a Surrogate Mother in Alabama

Finding a Surrogate Mother in Alabama

An exciting milestone in your journey to parenthood is matching with a surrogate. We work with gestational surrogates from Alabama, as well as surrounding states. If you're looking for a surrogate mother in Alabama (or in neighboring states), we can help you find your surrogate mother match.

Get Started

If you're pursuing an independent journey (without an agency's help), it's important that you think about what's important to you in your gestational carrier. It's also essential to know what you're looking for to determine if your surrogacy agency has presented you with a good match.

If you choose to work with Circle Surrogacy, we ask intended parents to fill out a profile that help us get to know them better and find appropriate surrogate matches.

The information we ask for in the profile includes your:

  • Relationship (if you have a partner)
  • Family
  • Hobbies and activities
  • Plans for parenthood
  • Reasons for pursuing surrogacy

Sharing photos of yourself, your loved ones, and anything else that gives a good sense of who you are as people also helps us find the best possible surrogate matches.

Your Circle Matching Team uses your answers—as well as your geographic location and views on termination— to find you the best possible surrogate match, so it's important to be honest when thinking about how you answer these questions. That's a key element of finding the best surrogate match for you.

Other preferences expressed by intended parents used when matching with your gestational carrier include:

  • Desired level of communication with their surrogate during the journey
  • Location of the surrogate mother
  • Number of embryos to transfer
  • Views on selective reduction and termination

You can use these criteria as guidelines as to what you should look for in a suitable match if you choose to pursue surrogacy without the assistance of an agency.

 3 Criteria for Finding Surrogate Mothers

3 Criteria for Finding Surrogate Mothers

Keep these 3 factors in mind as you search for a surrogate mother in Alabama:

Appropriate legal fit: Our legal department always ensures potential gestational carriers meet both general and state-specific legal criteria before surrogate profiles are presented to intended parents.

Personality fit and surrogacy expectations: We want both surrogates and intended parents to have a comfortable relationship throughout the journey, which is why your Matching team reviews the list of safe matches provided by the legal team to ensure good personality fits.

Expectations surrounding termination and selective reduction: In our experience, intended parents often prefer to make the choice regarding termination. It's important that surrogates and intended parents share similar views about the termination of a pregnancy if a situation develops in which a reduction or termination is considered.

 Search egg donor database

Finding an Egg Donor in Alabama

A fertile woman can donate her eggs to enable another individual or couple to conceive a child (with or without the help of a surrogate), whether she’s the intended parent herself or a surrogate for heterosexual or homosexual couples/individuals. Intended parents who have concerns about infertility can opt to build their families through egg donation.

How do you find an egg donor in Alabama? Circle Surrogacy guides you through the entire egg donation process and helps you coordinate with an IVF clinic of your choice. The first place most intended parents start their egg donor search is in an egg donor database. Most egg donor databases are set up so that you can search for an egg donor by certain criteria. Circle's egg donor database is easy to use and easy to navigate.

 Alabama Surrogacy Laws

Alabama Surrogacy Laws

As mentioned earlier, Alabama has not adopted any laws regulating surrogacy. That means you can still safely use the surrogacy process in the state, but it’s even more important to have an agency such as Circle Surrogacy help you navigate that process. That way, everyone involved in your surrogacy journey is protected and has an advocate.

Alabama is a statute "neutral" state with regards to surrogacy. Intended parents should have no problems obtaining prebirth and post-birth orders in the Juvenile court under an "anti-maternity" methodology of disproving the maternity of the gestational carrier through a prebirth medical affidavit. Intended Parents can easily obtain these orders with a qualified legal professional in Alabama and have no problems obtaining birth certificates in the intended parents' names (whether heterosexual or LGBTQIA+).

Surrogacy in Alabama for Surrogates

There is so much to learn about becoming a surrogate. We're here to help you navigate surrogacy in Alabama, from understanding what a surrogate is, what to expect, how being a surrogate can affect your life, to how to apply become a surrogate mother.

We work with women from Huntsville, Birmingham, Montgomery, and other Alabama communities. Becoming a surrogate is an amazing experience, and you have the opportunity to connect with other women in your area.

Read on to see how rewarding being a surrogate can be when you help those who aren't able to have a baby on their own experience the joys of parenthood.

The Process for Surrogates in Alabama

Our experienced social workers and program coordinators support and guide surrogates wherever they are in the process. If you are ready to apply now or interested in becoming a surrogate but want to talk with experienced surrogates or Surrogate Advisors, we have the expertise to help. Here is an overview of how to become a surrogate in Alabama:

  • Pre-screening
  • Consultation
  • Matching with intended parents
  • Medical screening and legal contracts
  • Monitoring appointments and embryo transfer
  • Pregnancy
  • Delivery

Learn more about the surrogacy process at Circle.

Getting Started as a Surrogate

We recommend completing our online surrogacy application to start the conversation about surrogacy. It takes only about 10 minutes to complete and there is no obligation to proceed if you aren’t ready.
 How To Become a Surrogate Mother in Alabama

How To Become a Surrogate Mother in Alabama

What kind of women become surrogate mothers? They are generous, adventurous, and kind. They are teachers, nurses, and stay-at-home moms. They are passionate about their families. They are spirited, caring, and selfless. They are just like you.

What Are the Requirements for Becoming a Surrogate?

Alabama residents who would like to apply to become surrogate mothers must:

  • Have delivered a child of their own and are currently parenting at least one child.
  • Have had uncomplicated pregnancies and deliveries, as documented by medical records.
  • Be between 21 and 44 years old
  • Typically have a Body Mass Index (BMI) of no higher than 33. Calculate My BMI.
  • Be citizens, legal residents, or legal immigrants of the United States. If a surrogate is a legal resident or legal immigrant of the United States, the surrogate must be able to provide documentation that is valid for at least 2 years.
  • Not participate in the following government aid programs: cash assistance, welfare, public housing, and Section 8. All other forms of government assistance will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Additional requirements for becoming a surrogate also apply to most states.

Benefits of Being a Surrogate in Alabama

Becoming a surrogate mother in Alabama appeals to women for several reasons, including generous compensation and a sense of pride like no other. Women who wish to become surrogate mothers enjoy benefits such as:

  • Gaining an incredible sense of self-fulfillment from giving the greatest gift humanly possible to another family
  • Building a life-long relationship with forever-grateful intended parents
  • Working with a personal Program Coordination Team and licensed social worker
  • An opportunity to work with local and international intended parents

And, as mentioned, Alabama surrogate mothers receive generous compensation with a customized benefits package.

The Circle Surrogate Promise

We created the Circle Surrogate Promise because we truly care about our carriers, and we want each of them to have the most successful and rewarding journey possible. This program evolved after carriers shared their thoughts with their social workers or during their exit interviews. Those conversations led us to improve our offerings to our gestational carriers.

Guaranteed Pay, Security, and Support

The Circle Surrogate Promise is a program exclusive to Circle Surrogates; no other agency can offer the same level of security and support.

Circle Surrogacy promises:

  1. Guaranteed Compensation. Circle Surrogacy financially backs their intended parents, so a surrogate’s escrow account is always funded to ensure she is always paid in full and on time.
  2. No medical bill liability. Circle Surrogacy takes on the liability of medical bills. We listened to our past surrogates and their frustrations with medical bills, and we’ve made big changes. While we can never stop having you receive medical bills (since you are the “patient”), our new Fixed Cost programs for intended parents allow us to protect both the surrogates and the intended parents and ensure all medical bills will be paid in a timely manner.
  3. $5,000 compensation, even if you leave the program. If you are accepted into our surrogate program and you are medically cleared and matched with intended parents – but you don’t achieve a pregnancy – we will compensate you for your time, energy, and dedication thus far in your journey (up to $5,000 total).
  4. Empowerment in birth choices. Not every gestational carrier has the same desires when it comes to the birth of their surrogate baby. At Circle, our surrogates have choices for her preferred birth options, such as doula care, a hospital birth, or using a birth center with a midwife.
  5. Personalized, small agency feel, with the resources of a large agency. The first person you speak with at Circle will likely be an experienced carrier who guides you through the process until you are matched with intended parents. They will personally introduce you to your dedicated social worker and journey support team, all of whom are in house at Circle. You’ll always be supported by a Circle employee who knows all the details about you and your journey. (You’ll never have to worry about working with a third party who doesn’t even know your name!) Plus, with our expanded team, we are able to offer support groups, virtual events, one-on-one surrogate mentorship, and more.
 New dad with his daughter through surrogacy

How Much Do Surrogates Get Paid in Alabama?

Carrying a baby for someone involves getting compensated financially. This compensation is often called a "surrogate base compensation" or "surrogate payment." Previous surrogates helped Circle Surrogacy create a compensation and benefits program for surrogates and their families. It provides security, benefits, and protection that are virtually unsurpassed.

Our new Surrogate Pay & Family Protection Program provides the following benefits:

  • Earning up to $55,000 (your base fee plus additional benefits)
  • Protection for the surrogate and her family throughout the journey
  • All expenses paid, from travel to meals to gas and more
  • Benefits and support through postpartum (the 4th trimester)
  • Full transparency on what's included
  • Benefits you won't find at any other agency

Are you still considering other surrogacy agencies because of their compensation? Before you make a decision, we'd appreciate having the opportunity to talk with you about those offers—we can match them. We promise you'll have the best surrogacy experience with us.

How does surrogate pay work?

Base Compensation

You can calculate your base compensation with our payment calculator to see how much you could earn as a surrogate in Alabama.

Payments Before You Are Pregnant

Signing payments and payments for your medical screening are examples of compensation provided by Circle early in the surrogacy process. These payments are in addition to your base compensation.

Payments During and After Surrogacy

Circle compensates surrogates for their necessities during and after pregnancy, including maternity clothing, housekeeping, pumping and shipping breast milk, and more. These payments are in addition to your base compensation.

Additional Benefits

Surrogates receive other non-monetary benefits—in addition to financial compensation—that are priceless in ensuring they’re protected and have a smooth journey. These benefits include legal counsel, life insurance, and more.

How Circle Supports Surrogates

Circle Surrogacy is recognized worldwide as a leader in the surrogacy field, with over 25 years of experience. Our team supports you every step of the way—from the day you begin exploring surrogacy to your meeting with the prospective parents and throughout your entire pregnancy to birth.

We help surrogates navigate the screening process, ensuring they match with the perfect intended parent or parents, and guide them through the legal and social work aspects of surrogate parenting.

Because many of us are experienced surrogates, we bring authentic passion to our work. Some members of our team have completed 3 surrogate journeys. Besides having world-class expertise in the myriad legal, social, and medical aspects of your surrogacy process, we deliver hands-on guidance that’s informed by our experience. If you have questions, we'll have the answers.

When you need a lawyer to review legal contracts, we'll recommend an attorney in your area with whom we've worked previously and who is thoroughly knowledgeable about Assisted Reproduction Technology law. We can connect you with trustworthy experts whenever needed. To learn more about being a surrogate, read our blog post about the 10 steps to becoming to a surrogate.

 Intended Parents with their hands on their surrogate's belly

Finding a Perfect Intended Parent Match

The prospective parents you help will be part of an incredible, intimate journey with you. And it's why Circle Surrogacy has developed a thorough matching process.

Your Surrogate Support Team uses personality profiles to find the perfect intended parent(s) for you. You’ll get to review each other’s profiles, ask questions, and generally feel each other out. We also help schedule an initial video call. The goal is to ensure both you and the intended parent(s) feel completely comfortable with the match. And of course, the surrogacy agreement only moves forward if you do.

Circle works with single parents, LGBTQ+ and heterosexual couples, domestic and international couples, and others. We’re confident you’ll be able to find a great match.

Getting Started

Whether you are intended parents or interested in becoming a surrogate or egg donor, the surrogacy process can be one of the most rewarding experiences of your life.  Learning more about surrogacy is the first step of your journey.