What is a Surrogate Agreement?
A surrogacy agreement, also known as a surrogacy contract, is a legal document that outlines the rights and responsibilities of both the intended parents and the surrogate mother. It is the foundation for establishing the intended parents’ parental rights. This agreement clearly outlines each party’s rights, roles, and responsibilities before, during, and after the pregnancy.
A surrogacy agreement is a little different from a gestational agreement but typically includes the following:
- Compensation
- A monetary amount is agreed upon to pay the surrogate carrier which includes living expenses and medical expenses that are not covered by insurance.
- Establish how that money will be paid if it is an escrow account trust account or direct payment to the surrogate carrier.
- Communication
- How often all the parties will communicate with each other and about what they will communicate with each other
- Risks and Liabilities
- Risks of a surrogate not relinquishing the child after delivery, medical risks associated with the pregnancy, and delivery of the child
- Agreements regarding the surrogate’s health and/or lifestyle choices
- Expectations of all participants
- Health and lifestyle standards for the surrogate and the expectations of the intended parents
- Intentions of both the intended parents and the surrogate carrier, may include a statement from the intended parents that they will assume parental responsibility and rights of the child and a statement from the surrogate affirming the parent rights of the intended parents as to the child(ren) of the pregnancy.
- Privacy issues for all parties such as postings of updates and images on social media
- Parentage Orders
- Explanation of the legal rights of the surrogate and the intended parents. Explanation of the responsibilities of each party through the stages of the pregnancy, delivery, and relinquishment of the child from the surrogate to the intended parents.
- Breach of Agreement
- Explanation of what constitutes a material breach versus a non-material breach and what the remedies of any of the breaches would be.
How a Surrogate is impregnated?
A doctor will take the sperm of the intended father and artificially inseminate the surrogate carrier. After the surrogate’s egg is fertilized, pregnancy results. The surrogate carrier will have a genetic connection to the child and as a result of this, the surrogate carrier will have legal rights that will need to be terminated at the birth of the child.
In traditional surrogacy, the biological mother is the surrogate carrier. As a result of this, the surrogate carrier will need to relinquish her legal rights to the intended parents.