Building a Family by Gestational Surrogacy?
Thinking about gestational surrogacy to create a family? Here's a simple step-by-step guide to help you start to manage this complicated process successfully. It involves also hiring a family law attorney to make the process hassle-free.
Find the Surrogate of Yours
There are two ways to get a gestational surrogate. The first, and the least costly, is to find one by yourself via:
Matching classified ads with surrogacy.
Online matching groups for surrogacy.
Calling for referrals to relatives and friends.
"The second approach is to employ a "matching specialist." This person, or program, will:
Locate a surrogate in New Jersey or with identical gestational carrier laws from a different state.
Screening prospective candidates.
Provide knowledge and emotional encouragement about the process.
You may be directed to a matching service by medical fertility professionals and lawyers trained in reproductive law.
Create an Agreement on Gestational Surrogacy
In order to prepare an arrangement between you, the intended parents, and the surrogate, you will have to meet with a family law attorney. It should be stated in the agreement that:
The surrogate consents for embryo transfer, try to bear and give birth to the infant, and immediately return the child to the intended parents after birth.
Immediately after birth, the intended parents consent to become legal parents and assume full responsibility for the infant.
Other things, such as paying fair costs for the gestational surrogate, may be included in the agreement.
Obtain an Order of Pre-Birth Parentage
The pre-birth parentage order will be written by your reproductive counsel. The court will decide, in this order:
A language that defines the names of parents to be included in the certificate of birth.
A language which specifies that the intended parents will be treated as sole parents by the hospital.
After the first trimester, a pre-birth parentage order is drafted to ensure that there is adequate time to receive the order before the baby is born.
Make Arrangements for Giving Birth
The hospital should have the pre-parentage order before delivery, so that you are allowed in the delivery room and hospital bracelets are provided for the baby's access. The hospital also needs to know that all medical decisions about the infant will be made by you, not the surrogate.
You would also want to educate yourself about the family leave package for your workplace. How much paid leave are you going to get, if any? "The Federal Family Medical Leave Act does not explicitly mention surrogacy; however, according to the United States Department of Labor website, it states that an employee can be granted leaves for child birth and to take care of the newborn child at the first year of birth.
Understand the Special Challenges of Your Child
How are you going to explain to your child that they have created a woman's uterus to which they are not genetically related? Consult or join a planned parent support group with a therapist that specializes in fertility problems, so you can consider the particular problems of your child and how best to handle them.
Also be mindful that your child's connection to their birth storey will shift when they reach puberty, a period when all teens struggle to find out who they are and where they belong.
If anything goes wrong with the process, contact a family law attorney in OKC. Ask us at The Handley Law Center for details.
** Disclaimer: This blog article is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship.