Surrogacy in Michigan: The Complete 2026 Guide

Search results calling Michigan a ban state describe law repealed on April 2, 2025. Michigan did criminalize paid surrogacy for thirty-six years: the Surrogate Parenting Act of 1988 made every surrogacy contract void as against public policy, and arranging a compensated match — the agency's role — a five-year felony.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed the Michigan Family Protection Act on April 1, 2024; it took effect April 2, 2025, repealing the 1988 act outright and replacing it with the Assisted Reproduction and Surrogacy Parentage Act. The two dates are a year apart; pages written in between still circulate.

What Michigan offers now:

• Compensated gestational surrogacy, expressly permitted and enforceable.
• Parentage vesting in the intended parents at birth, by operation of law.
• A parentage judgment, available before, on, or after the birth, entered on the papers without a hearing unless the surrogate challenges the attorneys' certificates.

The Assisted Reproduction and Surrogacy Parentage Act — 2024 PA 24, MCL 722.1701–722.1909 — was signed April 1, 2024 and took effect April 2, 2025, part of the nine-act Michigan Family Protection Act that repealed the 1988 Surrogate Parenting Act outright.

Settled

• Compensation is expressly permitted. An agreement may provide for "payment of compensation, support, and reasonable expenses" (§ 722.1903(2)).
• Parentage vests in the intended parents at birth, by operation of law. The surrogate, her spouse and a donor are not parents (§ 722.1906, § 722.1706); a parent under the act is a "natural parent for all purposes" (§ 722.1705), and genetic testing "may not be used" to challenge it (§ 722.1708).
• The parentage judgment is statutory; entry is not discretionary. A party may file in the circuit court's family division "before, on, or after the birth" — filing is optional, and the judgment records what § 722.1906 already vests. On the attorneys' certifications and the parties' statements, the court "must, without holding a hearing unless the surrogate challenges the accuracy of the attorney certificates," enter a parentage judgment "without additional proceedings or documentation," seal the records, and stay enforcement until birth (§ 722.1908).
• No marriage, genetic link or parent residency requirement. Intended parents qualify "whether or not genetically related to the child" (§ 722.1901(2)) and "married or unmarried" (§ 722.1703(f)). The nexus test is disjunctive: a Michigan-resident party, birth here, or the assisted reproduction here (§ 722.1902(a)).
• Her medical decisions cannot be contracted away. The agreement must let her make all health and welfare decisions about the pregnancy, "including ... whether to consent to a cesarean section or multiple embryo transfer"; any contrary provision is "void and unenforceable" (§ 722.1903(1)(g)), and specific performance cannot compel impregnation, termination or any procedure (§ 722.1909(5)). She stays the patient; contract terms set expectations and remedies, not consent.
• Formalities are the gate. Each intended parent, the surrogate and any spouse sign, notarized; the intended parents pay for her attorney; executed before any medical procedure beyond the required evaluations (§ 722.1902(b)–(g)). One that "substantially complies" with §§ 722.1902–1903 is enforceable; short of that a court decides parentage on intent and the child's best interests (§ 722.1909).
• The birth certificate names the intended parents. Where a court determines parentage, the name goes on the certificate "as found and ordered by the court" (MCL 333.2824(4)); where the judgment follows the birth, the registrar issues a new certificate and seals the original (MCL 333.2831(d), 333.2832).

Varies in practice

• Court timing. Venue follows the child's or a parent's county (§ 722.1707); Michigan attorneys report that filing rhythm differs courthouse to courthouse.
• Administrative guidance. We did not locate an MDHHS surrogacy walkthrough; its vital-records page reserves the Affidavit of Parentage for assisted reproduction "without surrogacy," so surrogacy runs through the judgment.

Needs case-specific advice

• Agreements predating April 2, 2025. As of our July 2026 review the act contains no transition or savings clause; these are a question for counsel.
• Genetic (traditional) surrogacy. The act covers it on the same terms as gestational (§ 722.1703(d), (k), (l)); Ivy's program is gestational only.

General information, not legal advice. Each side keeps its own Michigan-licensed attorney throughout — the intended parents pay for the surrogate's (§ 722.1902(f)).

Michigan does not require you to live here: the nexus is satisfied by a Michigan-resident party, or a birth here, or the assisted reproduction here (§ 722.1902(a)). Matching with a Michigan surrogate who delivers here qualifies out-of-state and international parents.

Nor must you be married or genetically related to the child. To be eligible the act asks that you be 21 or older, complete a mental health consultation, and retain your own Michigan-licensed attorney (§ 722.1901(2)) — and pay for hers (§ 722.1902(f)).

Settle early:

• Contract timing. Signed before any medical procedure beyond screening — the real schedule gate.
• A married surrogate. Her spouse is a party — better known at matching than at 32 weeks.

Ivy matches across surrogacy-friendly states. Start a conversation or begin your application.

Cost depends on whether embryos already exist and whether egg donation is needed. The figures below are Ivy's own quoted ranges as of July 2026, not a statewide average for Michigan — no agency's numbers are, and Michigan publishes none.

• The surrogacy journey itself (~$140,000–$150,000). Agency fee, surrogate compensation, legal and escrow services, and health insurance — from matching and contracts through pregnancy, delivery, and postpartum care, including the Michigan parentage judgment as a standard legal line item.
• IVF and embryo creation (~$40,000, billed by the clinic). Stimulation, retrieval, embryo culture, transfer, and optional PGT-A testing. Separate from the surrogacy budget above.
• Egg donation (if needed, ~$30,000+). Donor coordination, compensation, legal work, and related expenses.

Together: surrogacy only ≈ $140,000–$150,000; + IVF ≈ $180,000–$190,000; + egg donation ≈ $210,000–$220,000+. See our surrogacy cost guide and egg donation cost overview.

Your funds sit with an independent escrow company or attorney trust account, never with the agency itself — why in-house escrow is a red flag.

The Michigan-specific parts sit at contract and judgment.

1. Matching. Counsel confirms which state's law applies to your match.
2. Screening. Records review, her statutory medical evaluation and mental health consultation; intended parents complete one too.
3. Contract. Independent Michigan-licensed attorneys on both sides, notarized, signed before any medication or medical procedure.
4. Cycle and transfer. A transfer-cycle protocol; the surrogate does not undergo egg retrieval.
5. Pregnancy. Payments flow from escrow; care moves to an OB around 8–10 weeks.
6. Parentage judgment. A party may file in the circuit court's family division before, on, or after the birth; entered on the papers, sealed, effective at birth.
7. Birth and birth record. The certificate names the intended parents, as the judgment orders.

Most journeys run one to two years; the sequence — evaluations, contract, transfer — is statutory.

Michigan wrote your protections into statute.

• Your attorney is your own. Your choice, Michigan-licensed, paid by the intended parents, throughout the agreement.
• Your medical decisions are law, not contract. You decide about the pregnancy, including a cesarean or multiple embryo transfer; a contrary provision is "void and unenforceable" (§ 722.1903(1)(g)), and specific performance cannot force a procedure on you (§ 722.1909(5)). You remain the patient.
• You can stop before transfer. Terminate by notice before any transfer; absent fraud, no penalty or liquidated damages (§ 722.1905).
• Insurance gets a specialized review. Maternity policies may contain surrogacy exclusions; Ivy reviews yours at matching.

Surrogate FAQ · application.

Michigan law sets a floor: to sign, you must be 21 or older, have given birth to at least one child, complete a medical evaluation and mental health consultation, and have your own Michigan-licensed attorney throughout (§ 722.1901(1)), paid for by the intended parents (§ 722.1902(f)).

Clinics and agencies decide the rest. Ivy's guidelines:

• Age 20–36. Apply at 20 — screening and matching take months — but Michigan requires you to be at least 21 when the agreement is signed.
• At least one healthy, full-term pregnancy of your own, currently raising your child.
• BMI of 32 or below.
• No more than 2 C-sections and 5 total deliveries. These mirror what IVF physicians typically require.
• No smoking, vaping, or THC use — at least 6 months clean, verified by clinic testing.
• Financially stable and not relying on public assistance.
• U.S. citizen or permanent resident (green card) with a stable living situation.

After a vaginal delivery you can apply as early as 3 months postpartum; medical timing is always the clinic's call, and C-section recovery takes longer. Ask before you self-reject: surrogate FAQ, application.

At Ivy, first-time base compensation in Michigan is $40,000, with $45,000–$50,000 for a second journey and $55,000–$60,000 for a third or more — for proven surrogates, we're open to discussing beyond that. Total packages, with allowances and milestone payments, run $50,000–$100,000+. Payments sit in independent escrow or an attorney trust account, funded before medications start and disbursed on your contract's schedule. The full structure is on our compensation page; your personalized estimate comes before you commit — apply here.

Michigan expressly permits compensation; as of our July 2026 review the act contains no compensation cap and no escrow requirement, so those terms come from your contract — which is why your own attorney's read of the payment schedule, the escrow terms, and what happens if the journey ends early is the protection itself.

Michigan programs whose sites reference gestational-carrier or surrogacy support include:

• Livonia: Michigan Fertility Institute
• Troy, Rochester Hills, Flint: Henry Ford Health Center for Reproductive Medicine
• Bloomfield Hills, Dearborn, Macomb, Ypsilanti (Ann Arbor), Grand Rapids, Grand Blanc, Saginaw, Traverse City: Pinnacle Fertility Michigan

Some Michigan programs are silent about gestational carriers online, which is not the same as declining them; this list is not exhaustive — confirm services with the clinic.

Which clinic you use usually follows where your embryos are or will be created, not where the surrogate lives — surrogates routinely travel to screen and transfer.

• Statute: the Assisted Reproduction and Surrogacy Parentage Act (2024 PA 24) and its bill record, which carries the April 1, 2024 signing.
• Birth records: MDHHS vital records; court orders must be certified by the court.
• Attorneys: the Academy of Adoption & Assisted Reproduction Attorneys lists Michigan fellows.
• International: Michigan sits in the Chinese Consulate General in Chicago's district (June 2024) — shared with Illinois.
• Compare: Surrogacy by State, Ohio, New York.