Surrogacy in Hawaii: The Complete 2026 Guide

Hawaii's surrogacy law is new, and it is unusually detailed. Act 298 of 2025 repealed Hawaii's 1973 parentage chapter and replaced it with the Uniform Parentage Act at HRS ch. 584A, effective 1 January 2026. Its Part IX is a complete surrogacy statute.

• ⭐ A pre-birth order written into the law. § 584A-910(b): "The court may issue an order or judgment … before the birth of the child." Not reported practice — statute.
• ⭐ Enforceable agreements. § 584A-911(a): a gestational agreement that complies with §§ 902, 903 and 904 "shall be enforceable."
• ⭐ Parentage by operation of law. § 584A-908(a): on birth, "each intended parent shall be, by operation of law, a parent of the child" — subject to § 908(c), § 909(b) and § 911.
• ⭐ Protections for the surrogate, required by statute — her own attorney, paid by the intended parents; insurance terms the agreement must address; and all health and welfare decisions about her pregnancy left to her.
• ⭐ One party's Hawaii residency is enough. § 584A-903(a)(1) — so a Hawaii surrogate and mainland intended parents is an ordinary arrangement.

⚠️ The honest caveat is age, not content. The chapter took effect in January 2026. We located no published Hawaii appellate decision applying Part IX, and no reported practice to describe. A statute this detailed leaves far less to guess at than a silent state does — but no reported Hawaii practice yet describes how courts handle a Part IX petition, which is why an experienced Hawaii attorney matters.

⚠️ Scope note: this guide describes gestational surrogacy, the form Ivy facilitates. Hawaii regulates genetic surrogacy separately at §§ 584A-912 through 917, with pre-conception court validation and a withdrawal right running to 72 hours after the birth.

On 1 January 2026 Hawaii replaced its entire parentage law. Act 298 of 2025 (S.B. 1231, signed 7 July 2025) repealed the old chapter 584 — Hawaii's Uniform Parentage Act of 1973 — and enacted chapter 584A, the Uniform Parentage Act, whose Part IX is a full surrogacy statute.

⚠️ If you are reading a Hawaii surrogacy page that describes the state as having no surrogacy law, it predates this. Several legal databases still carry the repealed chapter. The official code index for chapter 584 now reads: "REPEALED. L 2025, c 298, §26. … For present provisions, see chapter 584A."

What a valid agreement requires

§ 584A-902 — eligibility. A surrogate must have attained 21, have previously given birth to at least one child, complete a medical evaluation by a licensed medical doctor, complete a mental health consultation by a licensed mental health professional, and have independent legal representation of her choice throughout. Each intended parent must be 21 and independently represented.

§ 584A-903 — process. Nine cumulative rules. The ones that shape a journey:

• Nexus (a)(1): "At least one party shall be a resident of the State or, if no party is a resident, at least one medical evaluation or procedure or mental health consultation … shall occur in the State," with all parties consenting to Hawaii jurisdiction.
• (a)(3) The surrogate, her spouse if any, and each intended parent are all parties.
• (a)(6) Every signature notarized or witnessed.
• ⭐ (a)(8) "The intended parent or parents shall pay for independent legal representation for the surrogate and surrogate's spouse, if any."
• ⭐ (a)(9) The agreement "shall be executed before a medical procedure, including the taking of medication, occurs" — other than the § 902 evaluation and consultation.

§ 584A-904 — required content. The surrogate and her spouse have no claim to parentage; each intended parent is, "immediately upon birth … the exclusive parent" and assumes custody and financial responsibility "regardless of the number of children born or the gender or mental or physical condition of each child." The agreement must provide for the intended parents to pay reasonable legal, medical and ancillary expenses, expressly including health insurance premiums, all uncovered medical expenses, the surrogate's legal fees and life insurance premiums. ⚠️ One qualifier belongs with that list: the health-insurance premium term applies "unless otherwise mutually agreed upon by the parties."

⭐ § 904(a)(8) is the medical-autonomy clause: the agreement "shall permit the surrogate to make all health and welfare decisions regarding themselves and their pregnancy."

⭐ § 904(b)(1): an agreement may provide for "payment of consideration … to the surrogate." Compensation is expressly lawful, and the statute sets no cap.

Parentage, and the pre-birth order the court may issue

§ 584A-908: on birth "each intended parent shall be, by operation of law, a parent," and "neither a gestational surrogate nor the surrogate's spouse or former spouse … is a parent." ⚠️ Both are expressly subject to § 908(c), § 909(b) and § 911 — § 908(c) sends parentage to Parts I–VII if the child is alleged to be the surrogate's own genetic child. ⭐ § 908(d) covers clinical or laboratory error: if the child turns out not to be genetically related to either intended parent or to their donor, the intended parents remain the parents — "subject to any other claim of parentage."

§ 584A-910 lets a party seek an order "before, on, or after the birth" declaring each intended parent a parent with rights vesting immediately on birth, declaring the surrogate and her spouse not parents, directing the department of health to name the intended parents on the birth record, and sealing the court file.

⭐ "(b) The court may issue an order or judgment under subsection (a) before the birth of the child. The court shall stay enforcement of the order or judgment until the birth of the child." "(c) Neither the State nor the department of health shall be a necessary party."

§ 584A-911(a) makes a compliant agreement enforceable. A non-compliant one is not void — the court determines rights "consistent with the intent of the parties at the time of execution."

⭐ § 911(d) draws a hard line the other way: "Specific performance is not a remedy available for breach by a gestational surrogate of a provision … that the gestational surrogate undergo an embryo transfer, terminate or not terminate a pregnancy, or submit to medical procedures."

Termination, and change of circumstances

§ 584A-907: any party may terminate before an embryo transfer by notice in a record, and again before a subsequent transfer if one did not result in pregnancy. ⚠️ Unless the agreement provides otherwise, the intended parents stay responsible for reimbursable expenses through the termination date. ⭐ "Except in a case involving fraud, neither a gestational surrogate nor the surrogate's spouse … shall be liable … for a penalty or liquidated damages for terminating."

§ 584A-905: unless the agreement says otherwise, a marriage after signing does not invalidate it, the new spouse's consent is not required, and the new spouse is not a presumed parent; divorce after signing does not invalidate it either, and the intended parents remain the parents. § 584A-906 gives a Hawaii court conducting a proceeding under this chapter exclusive, continuing jurisdiction over matters arising out of the agreement, from execution until ninety days after the birth — and it expressly does not confer child-custody or child-support jurisdiction that another Hawaii law does not already authorize.

Donors — read this with your attorney

§ 584A-802 says, in one sentence, "A donor is not a parent of a child conceived by assisted reproduction." ⚠️ But § 584A-801 provides that Part VIII "shall not apply to the birth of a child conceived by … assisted reproduction under a surrogacy agreement under part IX." In a surrogacy journey your parentage comes from § 908 and your agreement, not from § 802. If you are using donor eggs, donor sperm or a donated embryo, raise this with Hawaii counsel early so the agreement and the parentage order carry it explicitly.

Payments

§ 904(b)(1) authorizes consideration outright. Hawaii's adoption chapter (HRS ch. 578) contains no fees or prohibited-consideration section, and we located no sale-of-a-minor offense in the penal code chapters on offenses against the person or against the family. The compensation question here is answered by the surrogacy statute itself, not by inference from silence — which is what makes Hawaii different from a silent state.

General information, not legal advice. Chapter 584A is new; your agreement and parentage strategy should be handled by a licensed Hawaii attorney working under Part IX.

⛔ Genetic surrogacy is a different regime — and this page does not cover it

Everything above describes gestational surrogacy, §§ 584A-901 through 911. Hawaii regulates genetic surrogacy separately at §§ 584A-912 through 917, and the rules differ in ways that matter:

• § 584A-912 requires a genetic surrogacy agreement to be validated by the Family Court before assisted reproduction for it to be enforceable.
• ⛔ § 584A-913(a)(2): a genetic surrogate "may withdraw consent to the surrogacy agreement any time before seventy-two hours after the birth of a child." That is a post-birth withdrawal right. Nothing like it exists in the gestational part.
• § 584A-914 supplies the parentage order after a validated agreement where no withdrawal occurs; § 584A-915 applies different rules to a nonvalidated agreement; § 584A-917 restricts specific performance.

⚠️ Do not read this page's answers on parentage at birth, pre-birth orders or termination as answers about genetic surrogacy. Ivy facilitates gestational surrogacy only.

⭐ The general parentage machinery, and a 2026 Supreme Court opinion

Part IX is not the only route in chapter 584A. The general provisions apply to any parentage case:

• § 584A-203: a child, a parent, "an individual whose parentage of the child is to be adjudicated," a personal representative or the child support enforcement agency may bring an action "for the purpose of declaring the existence or nonexistence of a parent-child relationship."
• § 584A-504: judgment or order. § 584A-512: filing of adjudications with the Department of Health.
• ⭐ § 584A-510(a): "Upon order of a court of this State … the department of health shall prepare a new birth certificate consistent with the findings of the court … and shall substitute the new birth certificate for the original."

⚠️ And Hawaii is no longer without recent appellate authority. JK v. HK, SCAP-24-0000673, decided 18 May 2026 and marked for publication, is an assisted-reproduction parentage case decided under the 1973 UPA (former ch. 584); the court noted that the Legislature has since recodified the UPA as ch. 584A effective 1 January 2026. ⛔ It is not a surrogacy case and it does not interpret Part IX. It is nonetheless published Hawaii appellate authority on assisted-reproduction parentage, and the page no longer says there is none.

Hawaii's statute sets exactly two eligibility conditions for intended parents, and neither is unusual: § 584A-902(b) requires each intended parent to have attained 21 and to have independent legal representation throughout — though intended parents "may be jointly represented if desired." No marital-status, sexual-orientation, genetic-link or citizenship condition appears anywhere in Part IX. § 584A-902(b) applies to each intended parent "whether or not genetically related to the child."

⭐ You do not need to live in Hawaii. § 584A-903(a)(1) is satisfied if at least one party is a Hawaii resident — a Hawaii surrogate is enough on her own. If nobody is a resident, one medical evaluation, procedure or mental health consultation in the state plus consent to Hawaii jurisdiction will do.

⭐ Your parentage order can be signed before the birth. § 584A-910(a) allows a petition "before, on, or after the birth"; (b) lets the court issue it pre-birth, with enforcement stayed until birth. The same order directs the department of health to name you on the birth record and seals the court file. Neither the State nor the health department is a necessary party.

⚠️ What you owe under the statute, not merely by custom. The intended parents must pay for the surrogate's independent attorney and her spouse's (§ 903(a)(8)), and the agreement must provide for all uncovered medical expenses, her legal fees and life insurance premiums, and must address her health insurance premiums — which the intended parents pay "unless otherwise mutually agreed upon by the parties" (§ 904(a)(6)). Budget for these as statutory requirements.

⚠️ Sign before any medication. § 903(a)(9) requires the agreement to be executed before a medical procedure, including the taking of medication, other than the § 902 evaluation and consultation. Signing late puts you outside § 911(a)'s enforceability rule.

⚠️ Donor gametes need explicit handling. § 584A-802 says a donor is not a parent — but § 584A-801 disapplies all of Part VIII to a birth under a Part IX agreement. Your protection runs through § 908 and your contract. Raise it with counsel at the drafting stage.

⚠️ And the caveat that applies to everything above: the chapter is months old. We located no published Hawaii appellate decision applying Part IX, and no reported practice yet describes the usual filing path. The text is unusually clear; how courts run it is not yet documented.

Start with intended parents, or contact us.

A Hawaii journey costs about what one costs on the mainland. What the new statute changes is which line items are optional — several that are usually negotiated are now required terms.

Typical all-in ranges for an Ivy journey:

• Surrogacy only, embryos already created: $140,000–$150,000
• With IVF: $180,000–$190,000
• With IVF and egg donation: $210,000–$220,000+

Those cover agency fees, her compensation and allowances, legal work for both sides, escrow administration, screening, insurance review and the court work. They do not cover an unusual medical course.

⚠️ Several costs are statutory requirements here, not negotiating positions. § 584A-903(a)(8) and § 584A-904(a)(6) require the intended parents to pay the surrogate's and her spouse's legal fees, all uncovered medical expenses and life insurance premiums, and require the agreement to address her health insurance premiums, which they pay "unless otherwise mutually agreed upon by the parties." Ivy budgets all of it regardless.

Compensation is expressly lawful and uncapped. § 904(b)(1) permits "payment of consideration … to the surrogate," and no provision limits the amount.

⭐ The statute allows one proceeding to do both jobs. § 584A-910 lets a party seek the parentage declaration and the birth-record direction in the same proceeding. ⚠️ How many filings a Hawaii journey actually takes is not yet documented — ask your Hawaii attorney what they are seeing.

Vital records fees are published: $10 for the first certified birth certificate, $4 each additional, plus $2.50 per set of up to five. An apostille, if you need documents recognized abroad, is $3 per document.

Contact us for a written breakdown against your own circumstances.

A Hawaii journey follows the standard gestational path, with the sequence fixed by statute rather than by custom.

1. Application and matching. Application, records review, a call, then profiles and a decision.
2. Screening — a statutory requirement here. § 584A-902(a) requires the surrogate to complete a medical evaluation by a licensed medical doctor and a mental health consultation by a licensed mental health professional, and to have previously given birth to at least one child. ⚠️ These are conditions of a valid agreement, not agency preferences.
3. Independent counsel, both sides. Required by § 903(a)(7), named in the agreement, and paid for by the intended parents (§ 903(a)(8)).
4. ⭐ The agreement is signed before any medication. § 903(a)(9): executed "before a medical procedure, including the taking of medication, occurs," other than the step-2 screening. Every signature is notarized or witnessed, and the surrogate's spouse, if any, is a party.
5. Escrow funded. Part IX does not require it. Ivy requires an independently administered escrow account, funded before medications begin, with the escrow agent disbursing monthly from confirmation of fetal heartbeat.
6. Transfer, heartbeat scan, prenatal care, with handoff to her local OB around 8–10 weeks. Delivery is normally near her home.
7. ⭐ Seek the parentage order before the birth. § 584A-910(a) allows a petition "before, on, or after the birth"; (b) lets the court sign it pre-birth with enforcement stayed until birth. The same order can direct the department of health on the birth record and seal the file. ⚠️ How Hawaii courts run this in practice is not yet documented.
8. The birth certificate. The § 910(a)(3) order designates the record's content under HRS ch. 338. Certified copies from Hawaii Vital Records are $10 for the first, $4 each additional, plus $2.50 per set of up to five.

⚠️ Termination rights sit between steps 4 and 6. Under § 584A-907 any party may terminate before an embryo transfer by notice in a record, and the surrogate faces no penalty or liquidated damages, absent fraud. Expense responsibility on termination follows the agreement, and the statute's rule applies only "unless the agreement provides otherwise."

Apply as a surrogate or read the intended parents overview.

In most states, what protects a surrogate is her contract. In Hawaii it is now the statute — Part IX of HRS ch. 584A writes these terms into every compliant agreement.

• ⭐ Your own attorney, paid by the intended parents. § 584A-903(a)(7)–(8): independent counsel of your choice throughout, named in the agreement, and "the intended parent or parents shall pay for" it — yours and your spouse's.
• ⭐ Every health decision stays yours. § 584A-904(a)(8): the agreement "shall permit the surrogate to make all health and welfare decisions regarding themselves and their pregnancy."
• ⭐ Nobody can force a medical procedure on you. § 584A-911(d): specific performance is not available against you for embryo transfer, terminating or not terminating a pregnancy, or submitting to medical procedures.
• ⭐ Insurance is a required term — § 904(a)(6) puts all uncovered medical expenses and life insurance premiums on the intended parents, along with your surrogacy-related care through labor and delivery. Health insurance premiums are theirs too, "unless otherwise mutually agreed upon by the parties" — so read that clause.
• ⭐ You can walk away before a transfer, without penalty. § 584A-907: terminate before an embryo transfer by notice in a record, and "except in a case involving fraud," you face no penalty or liquidated damages. ⚠️ Who covers your expenses to that point is the agreement's default rule to set — the statute's answer applies "unless the agreement provides otherwise."
• ⭐ Compensation is expressly lawful. § 904(b)(1) permits "payment of consideration," and no provision caps it.
• ⭐ The court file is sealed on request under § 584A-910(a)(4), openable only for good cause shown.
• ⭐ Marrying or divorcing after you sign changes nothing — § 584A-905: the agreement stays valid and a new spouse is not a presumed parent.

What you still need to read closely:

• ⚠️ The statute lists what the agreement must contain, not what your package is worth. Compensation, monthly allowance, lost wages and milestones are negotiated — which is why your own attorney matters.
• ⚠️ Sign before you start medication. § 903(a)(9). If the agreement is executed late, § 911(a)'s enforceability rule does not apply to it, and the court falls back on the parties' intent.
• ⚠️ No escrow requirement. Nothing in Part IX says who holds your compensation. Ivy uses an independent escrow agent and funds it before medications begin — ask any agency how your money is held, and get it in writing.
• ⚠️ The law is new. It took effect on 1 January 2026, we located no published Hawaii appellate decision applying it, and there is no reported practice describing how petitions are handled. That is a reason to have an experienced Hawaii attorney, not a reason to hesitate.

Ready when you are — apply here or read the compensation overview.

⭐ Hawaii is the rare state where some requirements come from the statute. § 584A-902(a) requires a surrogate to have attained 21, to have previously given birth to at least one child, to complete a medical evaluation by a licensed medical doctor and a mental health consultation by a licensed mental health professional, and to have independent counsel of her choice throughout — all conditions of a valid agreement.

Ivy applies additional agency and clinic criteria of its own:

• 20–36 years old at application
• At least one healthy full-term pregnancy, and currently raising that child
• BMI 32 or under
• No more than 2 C-sections and no more than 5 total deliveries — these are Ivy and IVF clinic screening criteria, not Hawaii law
• No smoking, vaping or THC for 6+ months, clinic-verified
• Financially stable and not receiving public assistance
• U.S. citizen or permanent resident, with a stable living situation

You may apply as early as 3 months postpartum after a vaginal delivery; recovery from a C-section takes longer.

⚠️ Where Ivy and the statute differ: Hawaii separately requires a minimum age of 21 for the agreement, while Ivy's own floor is 20 — so in a Hawaii agreement the statutory minimum governs. Everything else above is Ivy's and the clinic's.

⭐ Living in Hawaii satisfies the statutory nexus on its own. § 584A-903(a)(1) is met if at least one party is a Hawaii resident — so being matched with mainland intended parents raises no nexus problem under the statute.

⚠️ Your spouse, if you have one, is a party to the agreement (§ 903(a)(3)) and is entitled to independent counsel paid for by the intended parents.

Not sure whether you qualify? The application takes about ten minutes and we will tell you honestly.

Base compensation for a first-time Ivy surrogate is $40,000. A second journey is $45,000–$50,000; a third or more is $55,000–$60,000, open to discussion beyond that for a proven surrogate.

With allowances and milestones, a full package generally runs $50,000–$100,000+ — a monthly allowance, maternity clothing, travel and childcare for appointments, lost wages where they apply, and milestone payments. Your package is written into the agreement before you sign.

⭐ Hawaii's statute puts compensation beyond argument. § 584A-904(b)(1): an agreement may provide for "payment of consideration, and payment or reimbursement of reasonable expenses, to the surrogate." No cap and no "expenses only" limit — an express authorization, not an absence of prohibition.

⭐ What the intended parents must pay for, by law, on top of your package: your independent attorney and your spouse's (§ 903(a)(8)); all uncovered medical expenses; and life insurance premiums (§ 904(a)(6)). Health insurance premiums are theirs too — "unless otherwise mutually agreed upon by the parties," so check that clause. They are also liable for your care "for assisted reproduction, prenatal care, labor, and delivery."

⭐ Terminate before a transfer and you cannot be penalized. § 584A-907(c) bars any penalty or liquidated damages against you, absent fraud. ⚠️ (b) leaves the intended parents responsible for reimbursable expenses through the termination date unless your agreement says otherwise — so read that clause before you sign.

⚠️ One real gap: no escrow requirement. Part IX says nothing about who holds your compensation. Ivy uses an independent escrow agent, funds it before medications, and disburses monthly from confirmation of fetal heartbeat. Make the escrow terms explicit, and have your own attorney confirm them.

Full detail on how payments are structured is on the compensation page.

We verified each entry against its own website on 18 August 2026 rather than from a directory:

• Fertility Institute of Hawaii — Honolulu. ⭐ Its own site carries Gestational Carrier or Surrogacy Cycles as a named service line, alongside IVF and donor egg IVF.
• Advanced Reproductive Center of Hawaii — Honolulu. ⭐ From its own homepage: "donor sperm intrauterine insemination (IUI), donor sperm/donor egg in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and gestational carrier/surrogacy services."

These listings are informational, not endorsements, and not a complete list. Ask any practice which parts of a gestational carrier cycle it performs on site, and how monitoring works if your embryos are held elsewhere.

⚠️ Distance is the practical constraint here. A mainland clinic cannot monitor a Hawaii surrogate locally, so a journey usually runs one of two ways: the whole cycle in Honolulu, or monitoring in Hawaii with the transfer at the clinic holding the embryos. Decide which before matching. Ivy covers travel for appointments, and intended parents should plan to fly for the birth.

Intended parents normally stay with the clinic holding their embryos. ⚠️ If your embryos are held outside Hawaii, decide before matching where monitoring and the transfer will happen, and confirm with both practices whether your existing clinic can be retained.

Statute: HRS ch. 584A, the Uniform Parentage Act, enacted by Act 298 of 2025 (S.B. 1231) and effective 1 January 2026. Surrogacy is Part IX: § 584A-902 (eligibility), § 584A-903 (process), § 584A-904 (content), § 584A-907 (termination), § 584A-908 (parentage), § 584A-910 (order) and § 584A-911 (effect). ⚠️ The former ch. 584 was repealed by Act 298 § 26 — sources describing it are out of date.

Case law: none yet. Chapter 584A took effect in January 2026, and no Hawaii decision has applied Part IX. A search of Hawaii Supreme Court and Intermediate Court of Appeals decisions also found no surrogacy case law under the repealed chapter.

Birth certificates: Hawaii Vital Records, State Department of Health — $10 first certified copy, $4 each additional, plus $2.50 administration fee per set of up to five. Apostilles are $3 per document. ⚠️ Mail orders accept only cashier's checks, certified checks or money orders.

For Chinese intended parents: Hawaii falls in the consular district of the Chinese Consulate-General in Los Angeles — with Southern California, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado and the Pacific islands. ⚠️ Not San Francisco.

Ivy: surrogate application · intended parents · compensation · contact us. Also worth reading: California · Washington · Nevada.