A new piece of federal legislation could fundamentally change how families are built through surrogacy in the United States. Introduced in the House of Representatives on June 3, 2026, the “Protecting Kids from Creeps Act” (H.R. 9131) would prohibit surrogacy agencies from facilitating surrogacy contracts with sex offenders and impose steep criminal penalties on agencies, their employees, and the offenders themselves. For prospective parents, surrogates, and the agencies that bring them together, the legislation signals a coming era in which thorough vetting is no longer optional but a legal expectation woven into the surrogacy process itself.
For families across South Florida considering surrogacy, this proposed law underscores something the team at Crossroads Investigations has understood for years: due diligence protects children, protects intended parents, and protects everyone with a stake in a surrogacy arrangement. Whether or not this specific bill becomes law, the message behind it is clear. The screening of the people entering into these life-altering agreements matters, and verifiable background information is the foundation on which trust is built.
What the ‘Protecting Kids from Creeps Act’ Actually Says
The bill amends Chapter 110 of Title 18 of the United States Code by adding a new section titled “Prohibition on sex offenders obtaining a child through surrogacy.” At its core, it targets three groups of people: surrogacy agencies, the employees who work for them, and sex offenders who attempt to obtain children through these arrangements.
The proposed penalties are severe and scale according to intent:
- A surrogacy agency that recklessly facilitates a surrogacy agreement involving a sex offender would face fines and imprisonment of not less than 10 years.
- A surrogacy agency that knowingly does so would face fines and imprisonment of not less than 20 years.
- An employee of a surrogacy agency who knowingly facilitates such an agreement would face fines and a minimum of 20 years in prison.
- A sex offender who knowingly enters into a surrogacy agreement would face fines and a minimum of 20 years in prison.
Beyond imprisonment, the bill carries additional consequences for offending agencies. A surrogacy agency convicted under this section would lose its eligibility for tax-exempt status as a 501(c)(3) organization and would become ineligible to receive federal grants. Any surrogacy agreement entered into in violation of the law would be rendered void and unenforceable. The Attorney General would also gain authority to bring civil actions seeking penalties equal to the compensation the offender received or offered for the prohibited conduct.
The legislation defines a “sex offender” broadly as anyone who is, or at any time was, required to register under the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006. That definition reaches far beyond recent offenders, capturing anyone who has ever appeared on the registry. Given the breadth of that definition, agencies cannot rely on memory, self-disclosure, or assumptions. They need verifiable records.
Why the Bill Was Introduced
Legislation rarely appears in a vacuum, and this bill is no exception. According to reporting on the proposal, it was sparked by a Pennsylvania case in which a registered sex offender obtained a baby through surrogacy without any background check being performed. A former teacher arrested in 2016 for soliciting sex from a 16-year-old student later got a child through surrogacy with no background check required. The agency involved reportedly performed no screening, and the offender did not disclose his status.
The case exposed a gap that surprises many people. While federal law prohibits sex offenders from adopting children, the rules do not extend to surrogacy, often allowing the intended parents to be recognized as the child’s legal parents. In other words, a person barred from adopting a child could, in many states, still become a legal parent through surrogacy simply because no law required anyone to check.
The patchwork nature of state regulation compounds the problem. Most states, including Pennsylvania, have no laws prohibiting sex offenders from obtaining children through surrogacy. Even where such restrictions exist, an offender could cross state lines to find a more permissive jurisdiction. The federal approach in H.R. 9131 is designed to close that loophole nationwide rather than leaving children’s safety to depend on geography.
The bill did not arrive on its own. It was introduced alongside a companion measure, the Preventing International Surrogacy Exploitation Act, which targets a separate concern: foreign nationals using American surrogacy agencies to obtain children with U.S. citizenship. Together, the two bills reflect a broader push to bring oversight and accountability to an industry that has, until now, operated with relatively few legal guard rails. For intended parents and surrogates, the takeaway is that the people on every side of a surrogacy arrangement are drawing increased scrutiny, and verifiable information about those people is becoming central to the process.
Where the Bill Stands Now
It is worth being clear-eyed about the legislative reality. The “Protecting Kids from Creeps Act” was introduced on June 3, 2026, and referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary, where it currently sits awaiting consideration. Introduction is only the first step in a long process, and the path from a committee referral to an enacted law is far from guaranteed. Historically, only a minority of bills that even make it past committee are ultimately signed into law.
That uncertainty is exactly why prospective parents and agencies should not wait for Congress to act. The risks the bill addresses already exist today, and the screening practices it would mandate are available right now. Families who build in thorough vetting from the start are protected regardless of whether, or when, this particular legislation becomes law.
What This Means for Surrogacy Agencies and Intended Parents
If enacted, the law would effectively make background screening a mandatory part of doing business for surrogacy agencies. An agency that wants to avoid catastrophic criminal exposure would have a powerful incentive to verify that no party to a surrogacy agreement appears on a sex offender registry, and to document that verification carefully.
Self-reporting alone would not be enough. The Pennsylvania case that inspired the bill is a textbook example of why: the offender simply did not disclose his history, and nobody checked. A signed attestation on an intake form provides no real protection if it is never independently confirmed. Agencies operating under this kind of legal framework would need reliable, documented, third-party verification to demonstrate they acted neither knowingly nor recklessly.
For intended parents, the shift cuts both ways. Parents who have nothing to hide benefit from a process that screens out bad actors and protects the integrity of the arrangement they are entering. Many prospective parents also want assurance about the surrogate they are trusting to carry their child. The vetting works in every direction, and a comprehensive investigation gives everyone involved confidence that they know who they are dealing with.
The Value of a Thorough Background Investigation
The “Protecting Kids from Creeps Act” focuses on criminal registry status, but responsible vetting in a surrogacy arrangement reaches well beyond a single registry search. A surrogacy agreement is a profound financial, medical, and emotional commitment that can span more than a year, and the people on both sides of it deserve a full picture.
This is precisely the kind of work Crossroads Investigations performs. A comprehensive background investigation examines far more than whether someone has a criminal record. The firm’s reports can include:
- Criminal history records
- Bankruptcies
- Liens
- Foreclosures
- Civil judgments
- Evictions
Each of these data points tells part of a larger story. A criminal record check is the obvious starting point and the one the proposed federal law zeroes in on. But financial indicators such as bankruptcies, liens, and foreclosures can reveal pressures that may be relevant to a surrogacy arrangement, particularly one involving significant compensation. A pattern of evictions or unsatisfied judgments can speak to stability and reliability. None of these findings is a verdict on a person’s character by itself, but together they help intended parents and agencies make informed decisions rather than blind ones.
Crossroads Investigations already receives requests from parents seeking background checks on surrogates. What H.R. 9131 would do is take a practice that careful, conscientious families already pursue voluntarily and move it toward becoming a codified expectation across the industry. The firm’s experience in this exact area means it is well positioned to help South Florida families navigate that change.
Why Free Online Searches Fall Short
When background checks come up, many people assume a quick internet search or an instant online database will do the job. It rarely does, and relying on those tools can create a false sense of security that is more dangerous than no check at all.
Instant background sites and free registry lookups carry well-known limitations:
- Incomplete records. Many databases pull from only a fraction of available jurisdictions and may miss records held at the county or state level where the most important information often lives.
- Name-matching errors. Common names produce false matches and missed matches alike. Without proper identity verification, results can point to the wrong person entirely or overlook the right one.
- Outdated information. Online databases are frequently stale, failing to reflect recent filings, dispositions, or registry updates.
- No interpretation. A raw data dump means little without the experience to know what it represents, what is missing, and where to dig deeper.
A professional background report from Crossroads Investigations addresses these gaps with verified identity matching, broader record access, and the investigative judgment to distinguish a genuine red flag from a clerical coincidence. For a decision as consequential as surrogacy, the difference between a cheap instant search and a thorough investigation can be the difference between confidence and catastrophe.
Beyond Surrogacy: A Broader Commitment to Protecting Families
Surrogacy screening is one part of a larger philosophy that runs through everything Crossroads Investigations does. The firm’s work centers on helping people understand exactly who is working for them and who they are trusting with the things that matter most.
That same investigative rigor applies across a range of family-focused services:
- Adoption investigations that help prospective adoptive parents and birth families verify information and proceed with confidence.
- Nanny and caregiver investigations for parents entrusting their children to in-home help, where knowing a caregiver’s true history is non-negotiable.
- Wellness check investigations for families concerned about the safety and well-being of a loved one.
- Detailed background reports drawn from thorough research rather than the unreliable, incomplete results that often come from instant online databases.
The thread connecting all of these is a recognition that the people we bring into our families and our homes deserve real scrutiny, not a cursory glance. The proposed legislation around surrogacy is one high-profile example of a principle Crossroads Investigations applies every day.
How Background Checks Support Custody and Child Welfare
One of the more striking features of H.R. 9131 is its provision on custody. Under the bill, if a surrogacy agreement is found to be void and unenforceable because it violated the law, custody of the resulting child would be decided based on the best interests of the child under the law of the state where the surrogate resides, with no effect given to the surrogacy agreement itself.
This provision highlights how closely child custody, child welfare, and background screening are intertwined. When the people entering an agreement are properly vetted from the outset, the risk of arriving at a heartbreaking custody dispute over a child born into a void arrangement drops dramatically. Prevention through thorough screening is far less painful for everyone than untangling a flawed agreement after a child has already been born.
For families building their futures through surrogacy, this is a powerful argument for getting the vetting right before any agreement is signed. A well-documented investigation is not an obstacle to becoming a parent. It is a safeguard that protects the child, the intended parents, and the surrogate alike.
Frequently Asked Questions About Surrogacy Background Checks
Does the Protecting Kids from Creeps Act require background checks on surrogates and parents? The bill does not spell out a specific screening procedure, but it makes facilitating a surrogacy agreement involving a sex offender a serious federal crime for agencies, their employees, and the offenders themselves. In practice, the only reliable way for an agency to avoid that exposure is to verify the backgrounds of the parties to an agreement. The legislation effectively makes thorough background checks a practical necessity even though it focuses on prohibiting the prohibited outcome.
Who counts as a sex offender under the proposed law? The bill defines the term broadly to include anyone who is, or at any time was, required to register under the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006. That sweeping definition captures past registrants, not just current ones, which is why self-disclosure cannot be relied upon and independent verification matters.
Can I run my own background check on a prospective surrogate or intended parent? You can pursue a check, but doing it well is another matter. Free online tools and instant databases routinely miss records, mismatch names, and present outdated information. A professional background investigation provides verified, comprehensive results along with the experienced interpretation needed to act on them responsibly.
What does a Crossroads Investigations background check include? The firm’s reports can cover criminal history, bankruptcies, liens, foreclosures, civil judgments, and evictions, giving intended parents and agencies a full picture rather than a single data point. You can learn more on the surrogate background investigations page.
Protecting What Matters Most in South Florida
The “Protecting Kids from Creeps Act” reflects a growing consensus that children brought into the world through surrogacy deserve the same protections as children placed through adoption. As lawmakers debate the bill’s future, South Florida families do not have to wait for Congress to act in order to protect themselves and the children they hope to welcome. The tools to make informed, confident decisions already exist.
Crossroads Investigations stands ready to help intended parents, surrogates, and families across the region with the same thorough, professional screening that this proposed law is built around. From surrogate background investigations to comprehensive background reports and the full range of family-focused investigative services, the firm brings experience and discretion to some of the most important decisions a family can make.
If you are considering surrogacy, adoption, or any arrangement where knowing the truth about another person is essential, reach out to Crossroads Investigations to discuss how a thorough background investigation can give you peace of mind. To learn more about the firm and its approach, visit the about page and discover why so many South Florida families trust Crossroads Investigations to help them protect what matters most.
