• Surrogates
    • Surrogate information
    • Be a surrogate
    • Learn how to become a surrogate
    • See all of our educational collections
    • Programa de Subrogacion Gestacional
  • Intended Parents
  • Egg Donors
  • About
  • Locations
    • All Locations
    • Baltimore, MD - Surrogacy
    • Birmingham, AL - Surrogacy
    • Boston, MA - Surrogacy
    • Charlotte, NC - Surrogacy
    • Chicago, IL - Surrogacy
    • Columbus, OH - Surrogacy
    • Denver, CO - Surrogacy
    • Jersey City, NJ – Surrogacy
    • Las Vegas, NV - Surrogacy
    • Los Angeles, CA – Surrogacy
    • Minneapolis, MN - Surrogacy
    • New Haven, CT – Surrogacy
    • New York, NY – Surrogacy
    • Philadelphia, PA - Surrogacy
    • Portland, OR – Surrogacy
    • San Jose, CA - Surrogacy
    • Seattle, WA - Surrogacy
  • Intended Parents
      Your Surrogate
    • The Process
    • Our Surrogates
    • How We Select
    • Cost + Fees
    • Insurance
    • Legal
    • Your Egg Donor
    • The Process
    • Our Egg Donors
    • How We Select
    • Cost + Fees
    • We Are Your People
    • How We Support
    • International Surrogacy
    • Same-Sex Parenting Advocates
    • Why Clinics Refer to Us
    • Testimonials
    • FAQ
    • Log In
  • Surrogates
      Answer The Call
    • Becoming a Surrogate
    • Requirements
    • Connect with a Surrogate Advocate
    • Meet the Men Behind Surrogacy
    • Surrogacy and The Military Community
    • Your Journey
    • Medications
    • Surrogate Mother Pay
    • Surrogate Referral
    • We Are Your People
    • Surrogate Support
    • Surrogate Profiles
    • Testimonials
  • Egg Donors
      Are You In?
    • Become an Egg Donor
    • Requirements
    • Your Journey
    • Egg Donor Pay
    • Process Overview
    • Medications
    • We Are Your People
    • Egg Donor Support
    • Egg Donor Diversity
    • Testimonials
    • FAQ
  • About Us
      Who We Are
    • Our History
    • Locations
    • Charity Partners
    • What Makes Us Better
    • Our People
    • Matching Matters®
    • First In Class
    • We Are Your People
    • Blog
    • Podcast
    • News
    • Contact Us
    • Careers
  • Start Here
    Intended Parents Surrogates Egg donors View Egg Donor Profiles
  • 关于我们 Qui sommes-nous? Quiénes Somos Gestacional Óvulos Vincúlese

Legal expertise and guidance

Employee Julie reading at a meeting
The legal landscape is constantly changing. I work with my clients to provide them with the best possible legal outcomes. We help you navigate the laws surrounding family building so you can have the peace of mind that comes with knowing that your family has legal security.

ConceiveAbilities Employees Paula and Tisha

We are fertility law experts. Our in-house team creates your “pregnancy on paper” to protect your parentage, so you can focus on becoming parents.

It has never been a better time to be an intended parent. Surrogacy laws are increasingly more favorable to creating a child through third party reproduction. Our in-house legal team keeps abreast of how surrogacy laws are changing and evolving state to state and county to county, so you have the most up to date knowledge and protection as you create your legal agreement with your surrogate and egg donor. So many factors affect the status of parenting including marital status, state and gametes. We take all that into consideration to create comprehensive legal strategy.

We create a customized legal document to meet each pregnancy’s needs.

Assisted Reproductive Technology Law

Gestational Surrogacy

A Gestational Carrier Agreement is a contract between Intended Parents, the surrogate and her partner/spouse, if any. This agreement details the parties' rights, obligations, intentions and expectations to each other in connection with the surrogacy. It also addresses location of delivery, future contact between the parties, insurance (both health and life), payment of medical bills, liability for medical complications, and Intended Parents' presence during doctor's visits and at delivery. Financial considerations such as the surrogate’s compensation and expenses, including lost wages, legal fees, childcare and maternity clothes are also addressed. We connect you with expert legal counsel to ensure you have a properly executed surrogacy agreement, customized to your unique circumstances and the legal requirements of the state where your surrogate resides.

Egg Donation

Egg Donation is a form of assisted reproductive technology in which a woman provides her eggs to Intended Parents for use in an in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedure (with either the Intended Mother or a gestational surrogate carrying the fetus) with the intent that the Intended Parents will become the legal parents of the child. There are various types of matches with egg donation - anonymous, semi-known, and known. Because each egg donation arrangement is unique and sensitive, we connect you with expert legal counsel to ensure you have a well-drafted agreement.

In the egg donation agreement, the parties identify who is intended to be the legal parents of the unborn child; what, if any, involvement the donor will have with the child; and whether the identity of the donor will be revealed to the child or other family members. The agreement has provisions whereby the donor agrees to cooperate in any legal proceedings necessary to establish parentage of the Intended Parents. A well-drafted agreement protects all parties.

Sperm Donation

Sperm donation is a form of assisted reproductive technology in which a man provides sperm to Intended Parents so that they may conceive a child via artificial insemination or in vitro fertilization (IVF) with the intent that Intended Parents will become the legal parents of the child. There are various types of matches with sperm donation - anonymous, semi-known, and known. Because each sperm donation arrangement is unique and sensitive, we connect you with expert legal counsel to ensure you have a well-drafted agreement so that each party fully understands their rights and responsibilities.

In the sperm donation agreement, the parties identify who is intended to be the legal parents of the unborn child; what, if any, involvement the donor will have with the child; and whether the identity of the donor will be revealed to the child or other family members. The agreement has provisions whereby the donor agrees to cooperate in any legal proceedings necessary to establish parentage of the Intended Parents. A well-drafted agreement protects all parties.

Co-Maternity Agreement

Same sex Intended Parents engaged in “co-maternity” (also referred to as “egg sharing”) may elect to use the eggs of one partner, fertilized with donor sperm, to produce embryos which are transferred into the womb of the other partner. One woman is the genetic mother and the other is the gestational mother – there is no egg donor and no surrogate. In this arrangement, a well-drafted co-maternity agreement for Intended Parents provides them with the best and strongest legal protections possible. The agreement states unequivocally that they are combining their reproductive capabilities to conceive a child that they intend to parent together. The agreement will be drafted prior to the IVF cycle, as the medical process should not begin without this type of agreement in place.

Review of clinic consent forms

Many fertility centers have standardized forms for patients to complete as part of the informed consent process. However, these forms are consents between the Intended Parents and fertility center and between the donors and the fertility center; a legal contract between the Intended Parents and donors is always still required and both Intended Parents and donors should have separate independent legal representation. Fertility center consent forms do not take into account the nuances of the unsettled field of parentage law in each state. The forms often go beyond the concepts of procedures, benefits and risks and reach into issues of establishment and relinquishment of parental rights. Such boilerplate provisions in consent forms cannot resolve legal parentage, especially when neither party has separate independent legal representation.

Contact us to gain a solid understanding of your rights and responsibilities regarding fertility center consent forms and legal contracts.

Embryo Disposition Agreements

As the use and success of IVF grows, so, too, will the number of frozen embryos in storage. Patients must have clear knowledge and understanding as to what their clinic will do with unused embryos after a certain time period. It is important to establish and clarify your rights to and the future disposition of your cryopreserved unused embryos, and we can assist with this important step.

Questions about our legal support?

Reach out

Related Blog Posts

ConceiveAbilities Rises to the Increased Demand for Surrogates and Egg Donors With a Newly Expanding Legal Program
ConceiveAbilities Rises to the Increased Demand for Surrogates and Egg Donors With a Newly Expanding Legal Program
March 3rd, 2020

The use of gestational carriers for families wanting children is on the rise. That’s why ConceiveAbilities is there to support the family building process another step further with a newly expanding legal team and legal services.

Read More
11 Celebrities Who Surprisingly Used Surrogates
11 Celebrities Who Surprisingly Used Surrogates
December 9th, 2020

Lucy Liu The proud first-time mother welcomed a son via surrogate in August 2015. At the time, a rep for the actress confirmed that "Lucy Liu is the proud mother of Rockwell Lloyd Liu, brought into the world via gestational carrier."...

Read More
ConceiveAbilities logo in gray
World Wide Web logo
关于我们 Qui sommes-nous? Quiénes Somos Gestacional Óvulos Vincúlese
Contact Us
312.379.5700
Intended Parents | Surrogates | Egg Donors
Intended Parents
Egg Donation Process Surrogacy Process International Surrogacy Same Sex Parenting Trusted Clinic Partners Parent Testimonials FAQ
Surrogates
Become a Surrogate Mother Surrogate Compensation Surrogate Requirements Surrogate Medications Surrogate Application Refer a Possible Surrogate Now
Egg Donors
Become an Egg Donor Egg Donor Process Egg Donor Compensation Egg Donor Requirements Egg Donor Medications Egg Donor Application
About Us
Blog: All Things Conceivable Podcast About Our Agency Our Family Creation Team Matching Matters® Contact Us
Site Map Privacy Policy
© ConceiveAbilities
Our site uses cookies so that we can remember you and understand how you use our site. For information about how we use cookies, please read our Privacy Policy. By browsing our website, you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies.