People often face a lot of difficulties and complications when dealing with the surrogacy laws in the US. Hence, if you’re thinking of having a baby using this procedure, it is critical to know and understand all of the details about how your particular state (where you live) handles such laws.
Not every state in America is tolerant of surrogacy. In fact, you will find that some states permit only non-compensated surrogacy. In other states, surrogacy laws might be quite accepting towards third-party childbirth arrangements and may allow both paid surrogacy and altruistic agreements.
Surrogacy Laws In California
California is a state that supports surrogacy as a concept for reproduction. It is among the handful of states that presently allows the intended parents of the baby to acquire parentage rights prior to child birth without the need for extensive adoption proceedings, as is mandatory in most other states. This is permitted under the California law without any conditions such as whether the couple is legally married or belongs to the LGBT group.
Although there is no statute in California which directly talks about the complicated surrogacy procedure, the courts in the state have utilized the Uniform Parentage Act to understand all kinds of cases relating to the procedure. Commercial surrogacy is also allowed in California. The state reinforces agreements for gestational surrogacy on a regular basis.
When the sperm utilized for the assisted reproduction procedure is not provided by an official medical professional (someone who holds a license), then the donor of the sperm may not be identified as the child’s natural parent.
California Assembly Bill 1217 Surrogacy
The California Assembly Bill 1217 Surrogacy is the latest surrogacy law passed in the state of California. It came into effect on January 1, 2013. The bill is considered to be among the highly progressive legislation in the state.
Below are some of the key points that help form the bill:
1. The intended parent of the child (conceived due to assisted reproduction) will be legally responsible to take care of them.
2. The law permits the establishment of a relationship between the child and the parents and gives details about the filing of that relationship.
3. It is important for all parties involved in a surrogacy procedure to get their own lawyer (legal representation) prior to the start of the process. This will help ensure that each party has a complete understanding of their rights while also avoiding future misunderstandings.
The law in California also mandates the notarization of all gestational surrogacy contracts so that they become legally valid. The contracts must be notarized and executed prior to the dispensing of medicines used for assisting embryo transfer or reproduction procedures.Under the California state law, it is also important for all parties involved in the gestational surrogacy arrangement to provide attestation for their compliance with regards to each relevant law.
A Popular Surrogacy Case In California
In California, a very well-known surrogacy case was recorded back in 1993. The Calvert versus Johnson case pointed out that under the gestational surrogacy arrangement, the intentional parents must be identified as the natural as well as the legal parents.
Traditionally, when there is a case of gestational surrogacy, the egg is not provided by the surrogate. Instead, the embryo carrier has the sperm of the intentional father and egg of the intentional mother. These are implanted by a doctor into the uterus of the surrogate with the help of the IVF procedure.
In the Calvert versus Johnson case, the final decision of the court was that the individual who wanted to procreate, i.e the mother who contributed the egg in this particular case, will be acknowledged as the natural mother of the child.
SFLG
Shulman Family Law Group
