The high threshold current densities of single quantum well separate confinement heterostructure grating‐coupled surface‐emitting lasers are shown to result from a combination of inadequate gain in the lowest quantum state and the wavelength selective properties of the grating reflectors. The situation is aggravated by the saturable absorption loss in the grating sections and sizeable scattering losses at the etch step between gain and grating regions. Grating‐coupled surface‐emitting lasers with 50‐&mgr;m‐wide broad‐area double quantum well active regions are reported with threshold currents reduced by a factor of 3 and with improved differential efficiency. Measurements of gain saturation of single quantum wells are presented.