Legal expertise and guidance

A Gestational Surrogate Agreement is a contract between Intended Parents, the Surrogate and her partner/spouse, if any. These agreements detail the parties' rights, obligations, intentions and expectations in connection with the surrogacy arrangement. 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 provide you with a properly executed surrogacy agreement, customized to your unique circumstances and the legal requirements of the state where your surrogate resides.

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. Because each egg donation arrangement is unique, we will draft the agreement so that each party fully understands their rights and responsibilities.

A sperm donor can be either known or anonymous (through a sperm bank). Intended Parents using a known sperm donor are advised to work with us early in the process to draft an agreement to delineate the rights and responsibilities of the Intended Parents. There is no uniformity in the law governing parental rights and responsibilities of sperm donors. A well-drafted agreement will maximize the likelihood that intentions regarding parentage will be honored in the event of a future dispute.

In this 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 IP. We will draft an agreement that protects all parties.

Same sex clients 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 implanted in the womb of the other partner. One woman is the genetic mother and the other is the gestational mother – there is no donor and no surrogate. In this arrangement, we will draft a co-maternity agreement for Intended Parents to provide them with the best and strongest legal protections possible. The agreement states unequivocally that they are combining their reproductive capabilities to cause conception of a child that they intend to parent together. The agreement will be drafted prior to the IVF cycle; most fertility clinics will not begin the medical process without this type of agreement in place.

Many fertility clinics have standardized forms for patients to complete as part of the informed consent process. However, these 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 reaches into issues of establishment and relinquishment of parental rights. Such boilerplate provisions in consent forms cannot resolve legal parentage. Despite the importance to patients of ensuring that legal parental rights are properly established and relinquished, these forms are often completed by patients without the benefit of legal counsel.

For patients undergoing IVF through their doctor or a fertility clinic, it is imperative to have a solid understanding of the medical release and consent forms that are being agreed to at the beginning of the process. It is also critical for same sex couples to have the facility and/or clinic documents reviewed and customized for their relationship. Contact us to gain a solid understanding of your rights and responsibilities regarding these forms.

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.