Surrogacy in Virginia: The 2026 Legal Guide

Virginia permits surrogacy. Chapter 9 of Title 20 regulates it directly, in two versions — court-approved agreements under § 20-160 and non-court-approved agreements under § 20-162 — and the Department of Health publishes a birth-record process for both. ⚠️ Do not read anywhere that Virginia bans surrogacy. It does not.

What it does do is remove the two things an agency-run journey rests on.

• Compensation is void. § 20-156 defines compensation as consideration "in excess of reasonable medical and ancillary costs," and § 20-162(A) provides: "A provision in the contract providing for compensation to be paid to the surrogate is void and unenforceable." The court-approved route says the same thing.
• Paid matching is a crime. § 20-165(A) makes it "unlawful for any person, firm, corporation, partnership, or other entity to accept compensation for recruiting or procuring surrogates" or for "arranging or inducing" a surrogacy contract — a Class 1 misdemeanor, plus treble damages under (B). ⭐ The only exemption is for attorneys.

And you cannot contract around either. § 20-157, in full: "The provisions of this chapter shall control, without exception, in any action brought in the courts of this Commonwealth to enforce or adjudicate any rights or responsibilities arising under this chapter."

So Virginia is a state where uncompensated surrogacy is lawful and documented, and where a compensated, agency-matched journey is not. Ivy does not arrange journeys here. Everything below is written to be useful to you anyway.

Virginia's surrogacy law is Chapter 9 of Title 20, §§ 20-156 to 20-165, "Status of Children of Assisted Conception." It is a real regulatory scheme, not silence — and that is what makes its two limits binding rather than theoretical.

The two routes

§ 20-160 — court-approved. The parties petition before conception. The court appoints a guardian ad litem for the future child and counsel for the surrogate, requires home-study-style findings, and its approval authorizes conception within a limited window.

§ 20-162 — not court-approved. The agreement still works, on conditions. The section reforms any provision "that attempts to reduce the rights or responsibilities of the intended parent, the surrogate, or her spouse, if any, or the rights of any resulting child." The surrogate, her spouse if any, and the intended parent must all be parties, and the contract must be in writing.

Compensation is void on both routes

§ 20-156: "'Compensation' means payment of any valuable consideration for services in excess of reasonable medical and ancillary costs."

§ 20-162(A): "A provision in the contract providing for compensation to be paid to the surrogate is void and unenforceable."

§ 20-160(B)(4) requires the court, on the approved route, to find that the parties understand the same thing.

⇒ ⭐ Virginia allows reimbursement of reasonable medical and ancillary costs. It does not allow a fee.

Paid brokering is a Class 1 misdemeanor

§ 20-165, verbatim:

"A. It is unlawful for any person, firm, corporation, partnership, or other entity to accept compensation for recruiting or procuring surrogates or to accept compensation for otherwise arranging or inducing an intended parent and surrogates to enter into surrogacy contracts in this Commonwealth. A violation of this section shall be punishable as a Class 1 misdemeanor. B. Any person who acts as a surrogate broker in violation of this section shall, in addition, be liable to all the parties … in a total amount equal to three times the amount of compensation to have been paid to the broker … One-half of the damages … shall be due the surrogate and her spouse, if any … and one-half shall be due the intended parent. An action under this section shall be brought within five years of the date of the contract. C. The provisions of this section shall not apply to the services of an attorney in giving legal advice or in preparing a surrogacy contract."

Note the history: 1991, c. 600; 2010, c. 712; 2019, c. 375; 2020, c. 900. It was amended as recently as 2020 and left standing. This is current law, not a dormant provision. And the treble-damages remedy runs to the surrogate and the intended parents — the very people a workaround would be sold to.

Two definitions that decide cases

• ⚠️ § 20-156, "Intended parent," means "a married couple or unmarried individual." An unmarried couple is outside that text. We located no published Virginia appellate decision resolving what follows from that.
• The same definition ends "regardless of the genetic relationships between the intended parent, the surrogate, and the child." A genetic link is not what the definition turns on.

The general parentage article

Title 20 also has Chapter 3.1, Proceedings to Determine Parentage:

• § 20-49.1(A): the relationship between a child and a woman "may be established prima facie by proof of her having given birth to the child, or as otherwise provided in this chapter." ⭐ Prima facie, not conclusive.
• § 20-49.2: a petition may be filed by "a child, a parent, a person claiming parentage…" Circuit courts share concurrent original jurisdiction with the juvenile and domestic relations district courts.
• § 20-49.8: judgment or order; costs; birth record.

How far Chapter 3.1 is available in a surrogacy case is a question for Virginia counsel, because § 20-157 makes Chapter 9 control "without exception" for rights arising under Chapter 9. This page does not resolve it.

Case law

We located no published Virginia appellate decision deciding the enforceability of a surrogacy contract or construing § 20-165. Breit v. Mason (Va. Ct. App. 2011) and the related Supreme Court of Virginia proceedings concern assisted-conception parentage between unmarried parents under § 20-158 — not a surrogacy arrangement, and not authority on surrogacy agreements.

General information, not legal advice. A Virginia-licensed attorney should advise on any arrangement touching this Commonwealth.

⛔ Start with the constraint, because it decides the rest. Ivy does not arrange journeys in Virginia. That is about where a journey is placed, not about where you live — an intended parent living in Virginia can pursue a journey in a state where we do work. § 20-165(A) makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor for any entity to accept compensation for "recruiting or procuring surrogates" or for "arranging or inducing" a surrogacy contract in this Commonwealth. That is what a matching agency does. The only exemption, in (C), is for attorneys giving legal advice or preparing the contract.

⚠️ Your residence is not automatically the problem — the Commonwealth's connection to the arrangement is. § 20-157 makes Chapter 9 control "without exception" in any action brought in Virginia courts on rights arising under it. A Virginia-resident intended parent whose journey happens entirely in another state is a different question from a Virginia arrangement, and it is a question for a Virginia attorney before you sign anything.

If you are proceeding in Virginia anyway, know the definition you have to fit. § 20-156: "'Intended parent' means a married couple or unmarried individual who enters into an agreement with a surrogate … regardless of the genetic relationships between the intended parent, the surrogate, and the child."

Read that twice. A married couple qualifies. An unmarried individual qualifies. An unmarried couple is outside the text, and we located no published Virginia appellate decision saying what follows. The genetics clause is favorable — the definition does not require either of you to be genetically related.

And there is a documented path for a donated embryo. The physician's statement required by § 20-162 may state either the genetic relationships between the child, the surrogate and at least one intended parent, or proof of the legal or contractual custody of the embryo. That second limb is easy to miss and it is the one that matters if you used a donated embryo.

If Virginia is where you live, contact us and we will tell you plainly what we can and cannot do.

⛔ There is no Ivy price for Virginia, because Ivy does not place journeys here. And the biggest line item in every other state — the surrogate's compensation — is void in this one.

What Virginia law allows you to pay her. § 20-156 defines compensation as consideration "in excess of reasonable medical and ancillary costs." Reimbursing reasonable medical and ancillary costs is lawful. A fee is not, and § 20-162(A) makes any contract provision paying her compensation "void and unenforceable."

⛔ What you cannot pay at all is an agency. § 20-165(A) makes accepting compensation for recruiting or procuring surrogates, or for arranging the contract, a Class 1 misdemeanor — and (B) makes the broker liable for three times that compensation, half of it to the surrogate. (C) exempts attorneys. Legal fees are the professional cost Virginia expressly leaves in place.

The published state fees are small and specific. The Department of Health charges a $10.00 administrative fee to establish the new birth certificate and $15.00 to print it.

Budget for legal work and for the medical course, and understand what you are not budgeting for. Without a compensation line and without agency fees, a Virginia arrangement is financially unlike a journey in a state that permits both — which is also part of why an agency-matched program is not run here.

For what a journey costs in a state where Ivy does work, see the intended parents overview or contact us.

⛔ There is no Ivy process to describe in Virginia, because Ivy does not match here. What follows is how Virginia's own two routes work, so you can recognize which one you are being asked to enter.

Route 1 — court-approved, under § 20-160.

1. Petition before conception. The court appoints a guardian ad litem for the future child and counsel for the surrogate.
2. Findings. The statute requires fitness-style findings about the parties, and — on the approved route — a finding that everyone understands compensation is void and unenforceable (§ 20-160(B)(4)).
3. Approval authorizes conception within a limited window.
4. After the birth, a certified copy of the court order directing establishment of a new birth certificate goes to the State Registrar with the VS6B form and the fees.

Route 2 — not court-approved, under § 20-162.

1. Written contract, with the surrogate, her spouse if any, and the intended parent all as parties.
2. Any provision reducing anyone's rights is reformed to the chapter's requirements; any compensation provision is void.
3. After the birth, a 180-day clock runs. The surrogate consent and report form, a copy of the contract, and a physician's statement — giving either the genetic relationships between child, surrogate and at least one intended parent, or proof of the legal or contractual custody of the embryo — must be filed with the State Registrar within 180 days after the birth. There is a rebuttable presumption that the physician's statement is accurate.
4. The Department of Health's packet is the notarized VS41 form, which carries the consent and report form, the physician's affidavit, the gestational mother's consent to change of name and termination of parental rights, her spouse's equivalent consent, and the amending birth certificate form.

⚠️ VDH says an order of parentage "is not needed in all circumstances, but may be required to be submitted in some instances." Which applies to you is a question for a Virginia attorney.

Read the intended parents overview, or contact us.

⛔ Ivy does not accept surrogate applications from Virginia residents. Not because Virginia forbids surrogacy — it does not — but because § 20-165(A) makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor for an agency to accept compensation for recruiting or procuring surrogates here.

The most important thing for you to know is that the law protects you, twice, and one of the protections pays you directly.

• § 20-165(B): anyone who acts as a surrogate broker in violation of the section is liable to all parties for three times the compensation the broker was to receive — and "One-half of the damages … shall be due the surrogate and her spouse, if any." The remedy runs to you. The action must be brought within five years of the contract date.
• § 20-162(A) reforms any contract provision "that attempts to reduce the rights or responsibilities of the intended parent, the surrogate, or her spouse, if any, or the rights of any resulting child." A term that strips your rights does not simply fail — it is rewritten to the statute's requirements.

⛔ And the rule that shapes everything: you cannot be paid a fee. § 20-156 defines compensation as consideration "in excess of reasonable medical and ancillary costs," and § 20-162(A) makes any provision paying you compensation "void and unenforceable." Reimbursement of reasonable medical and ancillary costs is lawful. A fee is not — and a promise of one would be unenforceable if it were broken.

Your spouse is a party, not a bystander. § 20-162 requires that "the surrogate, her spouse, if any, and the intended parent shall be parties" to the contract, and the Department of Health's non-court-approved packet includes a separate Gestational Mother's Spouse Consent to Change of Name and Termination of Parental Rights Form.

If someone offers you a paid Virginia arrangement, that is the offer § 20-165 is about. Talk to a Virginia attorney — attorneys are the one group the section exempts.

⛔ Ivy does not accept applications from Virginia residents, so the Ivy criteria that appear on other state pages do not apply here.

What Virginia's own statute requires of a surrogate is partly procedural and — on the court-approved route — squarely medical.

• She, her spouse if any, and the intended parent must all be parties to a written contract (§ 20-162).
• On the court-approved route (§ 20-160) the court appoints counsel for her and a guardian ad litem for the future child, and makes fitness-style findings before conception.
• She cannot be paid a fee. ⚠️ Reimbursement of reasonable medical and ancillary costs only, per §§ 20-156 and 20-162(A).

Two points the statute does settle. § 20-156 defines a surrogate as an "adult woman," so the statutory floor is 18. And on the court-approved route § 20-160(B)(6) requires that "The surrogate has had at least one pregnancy, and has experienced at least one live birth, and bearing another child does not pose an unreasonable risk to her physical or mental health … supported by medical evidence." Chapter 9 still sets no BMI cap and no clinic-style screening protocol.

The two protections that matter most apply to every Virginia surrogacy contract, court-approved or not. § 20-163(A): "The surrogate shall be solely responsible for the clinical management of the pregnancy." And (F): "Any contract provision requiring or prohibiting an abortion or selective reduction is against the public policy of the Commonwealth and is void and unenforceable."

Two more worth knowing before you sign anything. § 20-162(A) reforms any provision that "attempts to reduce the rights or responsibilities of the intended parent, the surrogate, or her spouse" rather than merely striking it. And § 20-165(B) gives you and your spouse half of the treble-damages award against anyone who took a fee to recruit you.

If you are being recruited for a paid Virginia arrangement, the recruiting itself is what § 20-165 addresses. Speak to a Virginia attorney — attorneys are the one group § 20-165(C) exempts.

⛔ There is no Virginia compensation package, and this is the clearest rule on the page.

§ 20-156: "'Compensation' means payment of any valuable consideration for services in excess of reasonable medical and ancillary costs."

§ 20-162(A): "A provision in the contract providing for compensation to be paid to the surrogate is void and unenforceable."

§ 20-160(B)(4) requires the court, on the approved route, to find that everyone understands the same thing.

⇒ Virginia permits reimbursement of reasonable medical and ancillary costs. It does not permit a fee, on either route.

What "void and unenforceable" means for you, concretely. If a Virginia contract promises you a fee and it is not paid, that promise is not something a Virginia court will make good — § 20-157 says Chapter 9 controls "without exception" in any Virginia action. ⛔ A clause choosing another state's law does not change that.

The one payment the statute does direct toward you is a penalty against a broker. § 20-165(B): a person who brokers in violation of the section is liable for three times the compensation they were to receive, and "One-half of the damages … shall be due the surrogate and her spouse, if any." The action must be brought within five years of the contract date.

None of this is a reason to distrust surrogacy generally. It is a reason to be certain which state's law governs the arrangement you are offered. For what compensation looks like where Ivy works, see the compensation page.

⚠️ Listing a clinic here is not a suggestion that Ivy can build a journey around it. Ivy does not match in Virginia. These are here because a reader in the Commonwealth may still be looking for fertility care.

Verified against the practice's own website on 19 August 2026, including the state:

• Shady Grove Fertility — its own Virginia locations page lists offices including Arlington, Fairfax, Richmond, Roanoke, Norfolk and Virginia Beach, and its service list carries in vitro fertilization, donor egg, donor sperm, donor embryo and gestational carrier.

That is one practice, verified. It is not a survey of Virginia fertility care, and no ranking, market-share or success-rate claim is made or implied. Ask any practice directly which parts of a carrier cycle it performs, and whether it takes carrier cycles at all.

A clinic offering gestational-carrier services does not make a compensated Virginia arrangement lawful. § 20-162(A) voids surrogate compensation and § 20-165(A) criminalizes paid matching, whoever performs the medicine. The clinical question and the legal question are separate, and both have to be answered.

Statutes — Chapter 9, Status of Children of Assisted Conception: § 20-156 (definitions; compensation; intended parent as "a married couple or unmarried individual") · § 20-157 (Virginia law controls "without exception") · § 20-160 (court-approved) · § 20-162 (not court-approved; compensation void; 180-day filing) · ⛔ § 20-165 (surrogate brokers prohibited; Class 1 misdemeanor; treble damages; attorney exemption).

General parentage — Title 20, Chapter 3.1: § 20-49.1 (prima facie by birth, "or as otherwise provided in this chapter") · § 20-49.2 (standing includes "a person claiming parentage") · § 20-49.8 (judgment or order; birth record).

Birth records: VDH — Surrogacy. Court-approved route: certified order + VS6B + fees + ID. Non-court-approved route: signed contract + notarized VS41 (consent and report form, physician's affidavit, gestational mother's consent, her spouse's consent, amending birth certificate form). All of it within 180 days of the birth — VDH "is unable to process submissions that are postmarked 180 days after the child's birth." Fees $10.00 to establish, $15.00 to print.

Case law: ⚠️ We located no published Virginia appellate decision deciding a surrogacy contract's enforceability or construing § 20-165. Breit v. Mason (Va. Ct. App. 2011) is an assisted-conception parentage case under § 20-158 between unmarried parents — not a surrogacy case.

For Chinese intended parents: Virginia sits in the Chinese Embassy's own consular district, not a consulate-general's.

Ivy: Ivy does not arrange journeys in Virginia. Contact us and we will tell you plainly what we can do. Nearby: Maryland · North Carolina · Tennessee.