When New York intended parents search for the best surrogacy agencies in New York, they face a question no other state forces in quite the same way: is the agency licensed by the Department of Health?
The Child-Parent Security Act, which took effect February 15, 2021, made New York the first and only state to require surrogacy matching programs to hold a DOH license. Every agency matching surrogates who reside or deliver in New York must meet mandatory screening, escrow, and informed-consent standards — or it is operating illegally.
Add to Preferred Sources
That baseline is higher than most states.
What separates the best agencies from the rest comes down to what’s above it: physician oversight, match speed, pricing transparency, and NYC clinic familiarity.
This guide covers six agencies. The only one without a NY DOH license is Physician’s Surrogacy, which serves NY intended parents with out-of-state surrogates through a fully compliant structure.
Talk to a physician about your journey →
Here is a quick comparison of the six agencies evaluated for New York intended parents, followed by a full breakdown of each.
⚠ Physician’s Surrogacy does not hold a NY DOH surrogacy license and does not match NY-resident surrogates. NY intended parents are matched with pre-screened surrogates from surrogacy-friendly states. Surrogate pay reflects the applicable state floor.
Physician’s Surrogacy is the only surrogacy agency in the United States managed by in-house, practicing OB/GYNs. New York intended parents pay Fixed and Flat pricing with no agency fees until a match is confirmed — programs start at $145,000. Average match time: approximately one week. NY intended parents are matched with pre-screened surrogates from surrogacy-friendly states nationwide.
Here is the question NY intended parents should actually ask: does your agency employ a physician — or does it hand all medical decisions to the IVF clinic?
Every DOH-licensed agency on this list does the latter. They comply with ASRM and ACOG screening guidelines, which the CPSA requires — but a coordinator working alongside a fertility clinic follows those guidelines without any physician on the agency’s payroll. Compliance is not the same as clinical oversight.
Physician’s Surrogacy is different. Board-certified OB/GYNs employed by the agency design the screening protocol, monitor clinical communications after every appointment, and consult peer-to-peer with a surrogate’s managing OB when complications arise. That capability does not exist at any other agency serving New York intended parents.
The trade-off is straightforward: Physician’s Surrogacy does not hold a New York State DOH surrogacy license, so it cannot match surrogates who live or deliver in New York. Instead, NY intended parents are matched with pre-screened surrogates from California, Texas, Florida, and other surrogacy-friendly states.
In practice, this is often an advantage. California and Nevada offer pre-birth orders with no genetic connection requirement and no mandatory residency hearing — legal protections that are simpler to execute than New York’s own parentage process. Your CPSA rights as an intended parent remain intact regardless of where your surrogate lives.
One limitation worth noting: surrogates are matched from other states, so prenatal care and delivery happen in the surrogate’s home state rather than a New York City hospital. If you want your child born at an NYC facility specifically, a DOH-licensed agency with a NY-based surrogate pool may be a better fit.
Physician’s Surrogacy focuses exclusively on gestational surrogacy and does not offer egg donation within the same program.
Best For: New York intended parents who want in-house physician oversight, a preterm delivery rate 50% below the national average, and a match in approximately one week. A strong fit for parents who want their surrogate in a state with simpler pre-birth order requirements, or who cannot afford a 6–12 month wait.
You’ve already been through enough. The last thing you need is to wonder who’s medically accountable for your surrogate’s care. At Physician’s Surrogacy, that answer is always a board-certified OB/GYN employed by the agency, with full clinical context on your surrogate from the moment she entered the program.
Preterm delivery rate 50% below the national average. Average match: approximately one week. Fixed and Flat pricing from $145,000.
No agency fees until your match is confirmed.
Schedule a Free Consultation →
Circle Surrogacy was founded in 1995 by John Weltman, a lawyer and gay dad whose own children were born through surrogacy. It is the longest-tenured full-service agency actively licensed in New York, with over 30 years of national surrogacy experience.
The agency is headquartered in Boston with satellite offices in Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, Washington D.C., and Cary, North Carolina. It was among the first agencies to obtain a New York State DOH license when the CPSA took effect and has maintained deep relationships with New York City’s top IVF clinics.
Circle is a non-medical agency — clinical oversight comes through the intended parents’ IVF clinic, not agency-employed physicians. Surrogate compensation reaches approximately $70,000+ total when all benefits are included.
Best For: NYC and tri-state area intended parents who want a fully licensed agency with in-house legal expertise, a three-decade track record, and a financial guarantee that absorbs risk on failed transfers and rematches.
ConceiveAbilities was one of the first national agencies to obtain a New York State license when the CPSA took effect. Founder Nazca Fontes was present in news coverage the day compensated surrogacy became legal — the agency had been advocating for the CPSA and was positioned to operate from day one.
ConceiveAbilities maintains direct partnerships with some of New York’s most prominent fertility clinics, including CCRM-NY, NYU Langone Fertility Center, RMA of New York, Shady Grove Fertility in NYC, and Weill Cornell Reproductive Medicine. For NY intended parents, this means smoother IVF coordination than agencies newer to the market.
ConceiveAbilities is a non-medical agency; clinical oversight comes through the intended parents’ fertility clinic. Matching speed runs approximately 2–6 months, and total IP costs are among the higher end on this list.
Best For: New York intended parents who want combined egg donation and surrogacy with strong NYC clinic relationships and an all-inclusive fixed-fee program.
Hatch Fertility was founded in 1991 and received its New York State DOH license in September 2025. Based in Los Angeles, Hatch serves NY intended parents while maintaining full CPSA compliance — including mandatory escrow, NY-licensed legal counsel, and all Surrogate’s Bill of Rights requirements.
The agency’s core strength in New York, as nationally, is its integrated egg donation and surrogacy program. For NYC-based intended parents who need both services, Hatch’s single-program model — with access to one of the largest fresh egg donor databases in the U.S. — reduces coordination complexity considerably.
Physician oversight at Hatch comes through a clinic partnership rather than agency-employed physicians. The broad cost range reflects the variability of combined egg donation and surrogacy journeys.
Best For: New York intended parents who need egg donation and surrogacy in the same program, or who want the financial certainty of an unlimited-transfer guarantee package.
Family Inceptions is a national agency headquartered in Suwanee, Georgia, that holds a New York State DOH license and maintains a satellite office at 745 5th Avenue in Manhattan. The agency was founded by Eloise Drane.
The team is known for building close, personal relationships with surrogates across multi-journey partnerships. For LGBTQ+ intended parents in the NYC metro area, the agency’s explicit prioritization of same-sex couples and single intended parents is a distinctive differentiator.
Family Inceptions publishes less compensation and cost data than other agencies on this list — intended parents need to request a consultation for specifics. The agency’s strengths are surrogate relationships, community-driven support, and LGBTQ+ family-building expertise.
Best For: LGBTQ+ intended parents in the NYC area who want an inclusivity-first agency with a physical Manhattan presence and a personal, relationship-driven approach.
American Surrogacy is a national agency headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas, that received its New York State DOH surrogacy license in January 2026. The agency now maintains satellite offices in Brooklyn, Lake Success, New Rochelle, and Midtown Manhattan.
American Surrogacy offers three flexible program tiers — a structural distinction among the agencies on this list, most of which offer a single fixed-fee model.
American Surrogacy’s newly licensed status means it can now match NY-resident surrogates directly. The trade-off: the agency has less CPSA-specific operational history than competitors licensed in 2021 or 2022.
Best For: New York intended parents who want tiered program flexibility, faster-than-average matching, and local support through multiple NYC satellite offices.
New York’s surrogacy framework, established by the Child-Parent Security Act , is widely considered the strongest in the country. The CPSA was signed in April 2020 and took effect February 15, 2021. In 2025, Governor Hochul signed S.819 , making additional amendments to surrogacy agreement requirements and insurance provisions. See also: surrogacy laws by state .
One important nuance: the NY DOH manages birth records for all counties in the state — but not for New York City’s five boroughs. The NYC Department of Health maintains those records separately. Your attorney needs to know this before delivery.
Because all DOH-licensed NY agencies must comply with the CPSA’s baseline protections, the floor here is higher than in most states. What separates the best from average comes down to factors beyond basic compliance. (See also: choosing a surrogacy agency .)
We evaluated these six agencies on criteria specific to the New York intended parent experience — not just national agency metrics.
Does the agency hold a current NY DOH license — or, for agencies serving NY intended parents with out-of-state surrogates, does it operate under a legally compliant structure? This is the baseline filter, not a differentiator.
The CPSA mandates ASRM and ACOG screening guidelines, but does not require the agency to employ physicians. Going beyond legal minimums to in-house OB/GYN oversight is what Physician’s Surrogacy does that no other agency does.
New York City’s fertility clinic network is unmatched nationally. Agencies with physical NYC offices or established partnerships at RMA, NYU Langone, Weill Cornell, and CCRM-NY coordinate care more efficiently for intended parents.
NY law mandates escrow, so escrow itself is not a differentiator. What matters is transparency on total intended parent costs upfront. Agencies that publish clear program pricing and disclose what is and is not included received additional weight.
New York City has one of the highest concentrations of LGBTQ+ and international intended parents in the country. Agencies with decades of experience in parentage under the CPSA for these families received additional weight.
Match timelines among these six agencies range from one week to 10 months. For intended parents who have already waited years through fertility treatments, the speed of matching is a meaningful quality-of-life factor.
New York’s CPSA sets the highest legal bar for surrogacy protection in the country. Every surrogate working with a licensed NY agency gets independent legal counsel, mandatory escrow, full health and life insurance, and the right to make her own healthcare decisions — by law. That floor does not exist in most other states.
What the CPSA does not require is physician oversight at the agency level. It requires compliance with ASRM and ACOG screening guidelines — but a coordinator working with an IVF clinic can follow those guidelines without a single physician on staff.
Gestational surrogacy is one of the most medically sophisticated ways a family can be built — and one of the most human. The gap between legal compliance and clinical excellence is exactly where Physician’s Surrogacy sits above every other agency serving New York intended parents.
Before choosing any agency, review the agency red flags that matter most for intended parents — then see which program is the right fit for your family.
New York law mandates the strongest surrogate protections in the country. Physician’s Surrogacy adds what the law doesn’t require: a board-certified OB/GYN managing your journey from day one — and a match in approximately one week.
Preterm delivery rate 50% below the national average. Programs from $145,000. No fees until match confirmed.
Schedule a Consultation →
For New York intended parents — no commitment required
Chief Strategy Officer Julianna Nikolic leads strategic initiatives, focusing on growth, innovation, and patient-centered solutions in the reproductive sciences sector. With 26+ years of management experience and a strong entrepreneurial background, she brings deep expertise to advancing reproductive healthcare.