How to Become a Surrogate in Wisconsin
Wisconsin’s surrogacy law comes from a single Supreme Court case, and it turns on a phrase most guides quote without explaining: your agreement is enforceable unless it’s contrary to the best interests of the child. Here’s what that actually means for you, along with what you’ll need to qualify and what you’ll be paid.
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Do you qualify to be a surrogate in Wisconsin?
Wisconsin has no statutory requirements for surrogates — not on age, not on prior births, not on residency. Everything below is set by agencies and fertility clinics following ASRM guidance. That’s worth knowing, because criteria set by an agency can sometimes be discussed, and a statutory requirement can’t.
The non-negotiables:
- You’ve given birth to at least one healthy child, full-term, and you’re raising that child. No programme waives this.
- You’re between 21 and 45, with most Wisconsin programmes preferring 21–40.
- No nicotine — cigarettes, vapes, pouches, patches. Typically 6–12 months clear, and expect a test.
- No drug use, in your household as well as by you.
- You’ll pass medical screening, a psychological evaluation and a background check — and so will your partner.
- You’re a U.S. citizen or permanent resident. You don’t have to live in Wisconsin, though it simplifies everything.
More flexible than you’d expect:
- BMI. Most clinics want 19–32, some to 35. A few points over usually means “let’s get you there,” not “no.”
- C-sections. Two is standard, three often workable. How you healed matters more than the count.
- Tubal ligation. Irrelevant — embryo transfer bypasses your tubes.
- Endometriosis. Usually fine. It affects conceiving, not carrying.
- HSV-2. Not disqualifying at most programmes.
- Hypothyroidism or Hashimoto’s. Usually fine if well controlled with TSH in range.
- Not being employed. Being a stay-at-home mother doesn’t affect your eligibility at all. See the FAQ.
- Single, unmarried, or LGBTQ+. Doesn’t affect eligibility. If you’re married, your spouse signs the agreement.
Raise these early:
- A history of intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP). Recurs often and carries real risk; most programmes decline or require maternal–fetal medicine clearance.
- Preeclampsia or HELLP previously. Depends on severity and timing.
- Antidepressants or other psychotropic medication. Policies vary. Ask before applying; don’t stop medication to qualify.
- Gestational diabetes. Diet-controlled and resolved, usually fine.
- Still breastfeeding. Fully weaned, typically 2–3 months before medication.
| Requirement | Typical Wisconsin standard | Set by |
|---|---|---|
| Age | 21–45, most prefer 21–40 | Agency / clinic — not law |
| Prior birth | One or more, full-term | Agency / clinic — not law |
| BMI | 19–32, some to 35 | Clinic |
| C-sections | Usually up to 2–3 | Clinic |
| Nicotine | None, 6–12 months | Agency / clinic |
| Your own attorney | Strongly recommended | Not required by Wisconsin law |
| Wisconsin residency | Not required | Nobody |
Unsure whether a past complication, your BMI, or a third C-section rules you out? The questionnaire covers all of it.
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Is surrogacy legal in Wisconsin?
Yes. Surrogacy is legal and practised throughout Wisconsin — but the legal foundation is narrower than most guides let on, and the difference matters to you rather than to the intended parents.
Wisconsin has no surrogacy statute. What it has is one Supreme Court decision: In re Paternity of F.T.R. (Rosecky v. Schissel), 2013 WI 66.
Nearly every Wisconsin surrogacy page quotes the same line from it — that surrogacy agreements are enforceable unless enforcement would be contrary to the best interests of the child — and then moves on. That summary is accurate. It’s also where the useful part starts, not where it ends.
Three things about that ruling worth knowing
One: the case wasn’t about gestational surrogacy. Monica Schissel was a traditional surrogate — the pregnancy was conceived using her own egg. Gestational surrogacy, where you carry an embryo with no genetic connection to you, was not what the court decided. Wisconsin practice has extended the reasoning to gestational arrangements and courts across the state now proceed on that basis, but it is an extension rather than a holding. The State Bar of Wisconsin’s own journal has published a piece describing the state’s surrogacy law as undeveloped, and that’s a fair characterisation.
Two: the court said a surrogate cannot be forced to give up her parental rights. This is the part almost nobody explains. What the ruling makes enforceable are the contract’s provisions on custody, placement and visitation — not an order compelling a surrogate to terminate her rights. In a gestational arrangement, where you have no genetic link and parentage is established by court order, this is largely academic. It’s the reason nobody does traditional surrogacy through an agency any more.
Three: “unless contrary to the best interests of the child” is a real caveat, not boilerplate. Ohio and Iowa‘s supreme courts held surrogacy contracts enforceable full stop. Illinois and Michigan wrote the rules into statute. Wisconsin’s rule has a judicial override built into it — a Wisconsin judge retains discretion to decline enforcement if the child’s interests require it. In practice this almost never bites, because the child’s interests and the agreement point the same way. But it means Wisconsin offers slightly less certainty than its neighbours to the south and east, and you should know that rather than be told the state offers “a clear path.”
What the case should actually teach you
The facts are worth a minute of your time, because they’re the best argument on this page for doing this properly.
Marcia Rosecky and Monica Schissel had been friends since grade school. They were in each other’s weddings. The Roseckys were godparents to the Schissels’ first child. Marcia had been treated for leukemia twice and couldn’t carry a pregnancy. Monica offered to do it for her.
They signed an agreement. There was no agency. Somewhere during the pregnancy the friendship broke down — the court record refers to a falling out, hurt feelings and a loss of trust. Shortly before the birth Monica said she would not give up her parental rights and sought custody.
It went to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. A court-appointed custody evaluator recommended that the intended father have full custody and that Monica have no placement at all. During the proceedings she was seeing the child a few hours a month.
Two lifelong friends, good intentions on both sides, and it ended in litigation and a destroyed friendship.
Everything a proper surrogacy programme puts you through exists because of cases like this one. The psychological evaluation, the separate lawyers, the counselling, the contract that spells out contact and expectations in writing, the escrow account, the matching process that lets either side say no. It looks like bureaucracy until you read what happens without it. If a friend or family member has asked you to carry for them privately, that’s the case to read first.
Parentage in Wisconsin is a two-step process
Most Wisconsin judges will grant a pre-birth parentage order, but here they’re interim (interlocutory) orders. A second, final order is needed after the birth before Vital Records will issue the birth certificate naming the intended parents. Both intended parents can normally be named where at least one is genetically related to the child. Where neither is, an order may still be available but it depends on the county and the judge.
Married couples, unmarried couples, single people and LGBTQ+ intended parents can all pursue surrogacy in Wisconsin. Birth records are handled under Wis. Stat. § 69.14
One question to ask your attorney: which county will hear this, and does that judge grant interim orders as a matter of course? Wisconsin practice varies, and it’s a five-minute question in month four rather than a problem in month nine.
Wisconsin has a few more moving parts than its neighbours. Walking you through them is what we do.
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What surrogates are paid in Wisconsin
Wisconsin places no limit on what a surrogate can be paid. Compensation is set in your agreement, and it’s determined by the agency and intended parents rather than by anything specific to Wisconsin.
First-time surrogates: $65,000+ total. Experienced surrogates: $75,000+ total.
That splits into two parts — your surrogate compensation, and your expenses.
Your compensation: a sample of $50,500
Applying to become a surrogate through SurroAdvisor lets you choose your fee structure rather than getting handed a fixed number, so this is a representative schedule rather than a quote. What’s unusual — and worth paying attention to — is that we publish when each payment lands, which almost no nobody else does.
| When you’re paid | Amount |
|---|---|
| At match | $1,250 |
| At medical clearance | $500 |
| At legal clearance | $1,000 |
| When you start medication | $500 |
| At embryo transfer | $1,000 |
| At hCG pregnancy confirmation | $1,000 |
| At heartbeat confirmation | $3,500 |
| Monthly during pregnancy (8 payments of $5,000) | $40,000 |
| Wellness package | $1,750 |
| Sample base total | $50,500 |
Experienced surrogates add $10,000, taking a comparable schedule to roughly $60,500.
Your expenses: $15,000–$20,000+ on top
Separate from your fee and not deducted from it: $300 monthly allowance with no receipts; all lost wages, yours and your partner’s; travel and a travel companion; family allowance for overnights away; weekly bed rest allowance; post-birth medical leave, 6–8 weeks; maternity clothing; medical insurance and all medical costs; life insurance; your own attorney’s fees; mental health support.
Your payments are held in third-party escrow, so the money is set aside independently rather than depending on the intended parents paying on time.
Three things about the money nobody else will tell you
It is very likely taxable. The “non-taxable reimbursement” argument circulating online is unsettled and the IRS has not endorsed it. Most tax professionals treat surrogate compensation as taxable income, and some agencies issue a 1099. Budget as though it’s taxable and speak to a CPA before you sign.
It can affect Wisconsin benefits. If your household receives BadgerCare Plus, FoodShare, W-2 or Wisconsin Shares child care assistance, surrogate compensation counts as income and could take you over an eligibility threshold. BadgerCare also generally won’t cover a surrogate pregnancy — appropriate coverage is arranged for you. Get advice on the timing before you match.
Ask for a schedule, not a range. Any figure quoted as a range tells you very little. What you want is a list of payments with the milestone attached to each one, as above, so you know what arrives and when.
The questionnaire tells you which fee structure you’d qualify for and what your schedule would look like.
See what I’d be paid →
What the process looks like in Wisconsin
Twelve to eighteen months from application to birth.
Month 1 — Application and matching. You apply, we review your history, and you speak to the agency. Matching typically takes one to three months and you have a say — you’re not assigned to anyone.
Months 2–3 — Screening. Bloodwork, an infectious disease panel, a saline sonogram or hysteroscopy, and a psychological evaluation with someone experienced in third-party reproduction. Your partner is screened too. If you’re in Superior, Eau Claire or the Northwoods, expect significant travel for monitoring, reimbursed.
Month 4 — Contracts. You get your own attorney, paid for by the intended parents. Wisconsin doesn’t require this, which is precisely why you should insist on it. Your spouse signs too, if you have one. Read the clauses on contact and communication especially carefully — Wisconsin’s leading case turned on a relationship breaking down, and the contract is where those expectations get set.
Months 5–6 — Medication and transfer. Estrogen and progesterone to prepare your lining, monitored by ultrasound and bloodwork. The transfer takes minutes and needs no anaesthetic. A pregnancy test around ten days later. Not every transfer works first time; that’s normal and covered.
Months 6–15 — Pregnancy. Care with your own OB or a practice the clinic refers you to. Your attorney petitions for the interim parentage order during this period.
Birth and after. You deliver at a Wisconsin hospital you choose. The final parentage order follows the birth, and the birth certificate is issued after that. You recover for six to eight weeks with support.
The first step is 12 questions about your pregnancy history. If you’re not a fit, we’ll say so straight away.
Start the questionnaire →
The risks, honestly
Any page listing only the rewards is selling you something.
Physical. Every risk of pregnancy again: gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, hyperemesis, preterm labour, haemorrhage, an unplanned C-section. IVF pregnancies carry a modestly elevated rate of some complications. If a previous pregnancy was difficult, it can be again. Maternal mortality in the US is low but not zero, and that deserves saying plainly.
The medication is not nothing. Weeks of injections, with bruising, mood swings, headaches and bloating.
Legal. Wisconsin’s framework rests on one case from 2013 that was decided about a different kind of surrogacy, with a best-interests caveat built into it. It works, and it has worked for over a decade. It’s also thinner than what Illinois or Michigan have written into statute.
Relational — and Wisconsin’s own case law is the warning. The relationship with your intended parents can change over eighteen months. It usually deepens. Occasionally it curdles. Agree in advance how much contact you want, how you’ll communicate, and what happens if one of you wants more or less than the other. Put it in the contract. This is the single most under-planned part of surrogacy and it’s what went wrong in Rosecky.
Emotional. Most gestational surrogates don’t experience the grief people expect. But postpartum depression is as possible for you as for any birth, and there’s a flatness some women describe when the intensity ends. Use the counselling.
Failed transfers and loss. Not every transfer takes, and miscarriage happens at roughly the general rate. It’s hard to carry when it wasn’t your pregnancy to lose.
How we make money
SurroAdvisor is free for you and always will be. When we match you with an agency and you’re accepted into their programme, they pay us a fee. You are never charged, and your compensation isn’t reduced because you came through us.
We think you should know that, and we think it should change how you read this page. It’s also why we only work with just one, trusted, agency partner — based right here in the Midwest — rather than listing everyone who’ll pay us. We’d rather send you somewhere we’d send a friend, in fact we worked with them ourselves for our own surrogacy journeys.
What we do that contacting an agency directly doesn’t:
- We tell you if you don’t qualify before you spend six weeks on an application
- We know which programmes will look at a third C-section, a BMI of 34, HSV-2 or a history of preeclampsia
- In Wisconsin specifically, we’ll make sure you have your own attorney and that the contact expectations are written down — the two things Wisconsin law leaves entirely to you
Common questions from Wisconsin surrogates
Is Wisconsin a surrogate-friendly state?
Reasonably, yes. Surrogacy is legal, compensation is permitted with no cap, and most Wisconsin judges grant parentage orders. The qualifier is that Wisconsin’s law comes from a single 2013 Supreme Court case rather than a statute, that case concerned traditional rather than gestational surrogacy, and its holding includes a best-interests caveat that leaves judges some discretion. Wisconsin sits comfortably in the middle of the pack — well ahead of Indiana, behind Illinois and Michigan.
Can a stay-at-home mom be a surrogate?
Yes, and stay-at-home mothers are among the most common surrogates. Not being employed doesn’t affect your eligibility in any way, and the flexibility genuinely helps — there are a lot of monitoring appointments. Two practical notes. Lost-wage reimbursement obviously won’t apply if you don’t have wages, but base compensation, the monthly allowance and every other benefit are unaffected. And childcare for appointments is a reimbursable expense, so make sure that’s written into your agreement rather than assumed.
What will disqualify you from surrogacy?
Never having given birth, and not currently raising a child, are the near-universal bars. After that: current nicotine use, drug use in the household, a BMI well outside roughly 19–35, more than two or three prior C-sections, serious complications in a previous pregnancy such as severe preeclampsia or cholestasis, an unstable mental health condition, and certain medications. Plenty of things people assume are disqualifying aren’t — tubal ligation, endometriosis, HSV-2, well-controlled thyroid disease, being unemployed, being single or LGBTQ+.
Are surrogacy contracts enforceable in Wisconsin?
Yes, with a caveat. The Wisconsin Supreme Court held in 2013 that a surrogacy agreement is a valid, enforceable contract unless enforcement would be contrary to the best interests of the child. Ordinary contract defences such as fraud or misrepresentation also apply. In practice Wisconsin agreements are honoured; the caveat rarely comes into play, because what the agreement provides for and what serves the child usually coincide.
Do I need my own lawyer?
Wisconsin doesn’t require it, which is exactly why you should insist on it. Illinois and Michigan both make independent counsel a statutory condition of a valid surrogacy agreement; Wisconsin leaves it to best practice. The intended parents should pay for your attorney — that’s standard even where it isn’t mandated. Never sign an agreement reviewed only by their lawyer.
Will the intended parents be on the birth certificate?
Yes, though it takes two steps in Wisconsin. Most judges grant an interim parentage order before the birth, and a final order is then issued afterwards, which is what allows Vital Records to produce a birth certificate naming the intended parents. Both intended parents can usually be named where at least one is genetically related to the child.
Can I be a surrogate if I’ve had a C-section?
Yes. Two prior C-sections is standard at most programmes and three is often workable. The clinic assesses how your uterus healed, whether you had complications, and what imaging shows. Start requesting your operative reports now — hospital records take longer to arrive than people expect.
Can I be a surrogate if I had cholestasis of pregnancy?
Usually not, and it’s better to know now. Intrahepatic cholestasis recurs in a large proportion of subsequent pregnancies and is associated with increased risk to the baby, so most programmes decline or require maternal–fetal medicine sign-off. Raise it in your first conversation.
Can you be a surrogate with endometriosis?
Usually yes, which surprises people. Endometriosis mainly affects conceiving rather than carrying, and you’ve already demonstrated you can carry to term. Your uterine cavity is checked during standard screening.
Can you be a surrogate with Hashimoto’s or hypothyroidism?
Very often yes, if it’s well controlled on levothyroxine with your TSH in the target range. Thyroid function is monitored closely in any IVF pregnancy. Bring recent labs.
Can you be a surrogate with HSV-2?
Generally yes. It’s managed with suppressive antiviral medication from around 36 weeks and a C-section if there are active lesions at delivery. Most programmes accept HSV-2 positive surrogates. Disclose it at application — it’s a planning conversation, not a disqualification.
Can I be a surrogate if I’m on antidepressants?
It depends on the programme. Some require six to twelve months off psychotropic medication; others accept stable long-term SSRI use with clearance from the evaluating psychologist. Don’t stop your medication to qualify — speak to your prescriber and to us first.
I’ve had my tubes tied. Does that disqualify me?
No. Gestational surrogacy places an embryo directly into your uterus, so your fallopian tubes aren’t involved. An IUD needs removing and Depo-Provera needs a wash-out period, but neither is a barrier.
What if my BMI is over the limit?
Most clinics want under 32, with flexibility to around 35. At 34 or 36 the usual outcome is a conversation about reaching the threshold before transfer, not rejection.
A friend has asked me to carry for her. Do I still need an agency?
You aren’t obliged to use one, and Wisconsin law won’t stop you. But Wisconsin’s leading surrogacy case is exactly this situation — two lifelong friends, no agency, an agreement between them, and a friendship that ended in the state Supreme Court. What a programme provides is a psychological evaluation for everyone involved, separate lawyers, written expectations about contact, escrow for the money and counselling if it gets difficult. If you go ahead privately, get at least the independent legal advice and the written expectations.
Will surrogate pay affect BadgerCare or FoodShare?
It can, and it’s the question we most wish women asked earlier. Surrogate compensation is income and may take your household over an eligibility threshold. BadgerCare also generally won’t cover a surrogate pregnancy — appropriate coverage is arranged separately. Get advice on the timing before you match.
Do I have to pay tax on it?
Assume yes. The “non-taxable reimbursement” theory is unsettled and unendorsed by the IRS. Set money aside and talk to a CPA before your first payment.
Can I choose the intended parents?
Yes, and in Wisconsin it’s worth taking seriously. Matching runs both ways and you can decline, including after a first conversation. Think in advance about contact during pregnancy, any relationship afterwards, and how you’d each handle a difficult prenatal diagnosis — then check the agreement reflects what you agreed verbally.
Does being a surrogate affect my own fertility?
There’s no evidence that carrying a gestational surrogacy pregnancy reduces future fertility. The risks are those of any pregnancy: a C-section adds scar tissue, and a serious complication could have lasting effects.
Ready to find out where you stand?
If you’ve carried a healthy pregnancy, you’re 21 to 45, you don’t use nicotine and you’re raising your own child, you’re likely eligible — and the questionnaire will tell you in about five minutes.
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Your answers go to our team and the agency you’re matched with, and nowhere else.
More on surrogacy:
What is a surrogate mother? · Gestational vs traditional surrogacy · Surrogate health insurance · Surrogacy statistics · Glossary
Nearby states: Illinois · Minnesota · Iowa · Michigan
This page is general information, not medical, legal, or tax advice. Wisconsin has no surrogacy statute and its law rests on a single case, so professional guidance matters more here than in states with a written framework. Speak to a Wisconsin reproductive attorney before signing any agreement, and to a CPA before receiving compensation.