Is Surrogacy Legal in North Carolina?
Short answer: yes. But let me give you the real answer, because "legal" in North Carolina doesn't mean what most people think it means.
North Carolina has no surrogacy-specific statutes on the books. No laws that say surrogacy is allowed. No laws that say it isn't. We're in what attorneys (and people trying to navigate this process) typically call a "gray area" and that gray area has real consequences for intended parents and surrogates alike.
What Does "No Surrogacy Laws" Actually Mean?
It means there's no roadmap handed to you by the state legislature. There's no checklist, no automatic process, no form you fill out to make everything official. Instead, surrogacy in North Carolina is governed by a patchwork of family law statutes, parentage law, court discretion, and, most importantly, the contracts your attorneys draft.
The good news? North Carolina courts have consistently been willing to honor well-drafted surrogacy agreements and grant pre-birth orders to intended parents.
The not-so-good news? The outcome can vary by county, by judge, and by how your legal documents are structured. That's not a reason to avoid surrogacy in NC, it's a reason to take the legal side seriously from day one.
The Role of Your Surrogacy Contract in North Carolina
Because the state hasn't filled in the blanks, your surrogacy agreement does a lot of heavy lifting. A comprehensive contract lays out the rights, responsibilities, and intentions of every party involved; the intended parents, the gestational carrier, and in some cases, donors. It addresses everything from compensation and medical decisions to what happens if something doesn't go as planned.
Both the intended parents and the gestational carrier must have independent legal representation when signing a surrogacy agreement in North Carolina. That's not optional. It's a protective measure for everyone at the table, and courts expect it.
Pre-Birth Orders in North Carolina
A pre-birth order is a court order that establishes the intended parents' legal parentage before the baby is born. In most cases in North Carolina, intended parents can obtain a pre-birth order (meaning their names go on the birth certificate at birth) and there's no need for post-birth adoption proceedings.
"Most cases" is doing a lot of work in that sentence. Whether a pre-birth order is available to you depends on factors like marital status, genetic connection to the child, and the county where the birth will occur. Melenni can assess your specific situation and let you know what to expect.
Can You Use a Surrogate from Another State?
Yes and if you're on the North Carolina coast like many of my clients, this comes up a lot. There are limited fertility clinics in coastal NC, which means a lot of intended parents are traveling out of state for their IVF procedures, and sometimes their gestational carrier lives in a different state too.
When that happens, both states' laws come into play, which makes having an experienced ART attorney in your corner even more important. We work through those questions with you upfront so there are no surprises.
So Is North Carolina a Good State for Surrogacy?
I'd call it a viable state with some caveats. The absence of specific statutes gives practitioners flexibility. It means creative, experienced attorneys can advocate effectively for their clients. But it also means the process requires more intentional legal work than in states with clear statutory frameworks. The families I work with in North Carolina navigate this successfully all the time. You just need the right team.
Ready to talk through your situation? Book a consultation with Melenni Balbach. We work virtually across all of North Carolina. No commute required.
