Lippman, Semsker & Salb, based minutes outside of Washington, DC and serving families across the globe in our surrogacy and adoption law practice, assists couples and individuals, straight and gay, regardless of their geographical location, who are creating their families through surrogacy, egg donation, and sperm donation.
Because tight regulation of fertility means egg and sperm donors in the UK and other European countries receive only expenses and cannot be paid, it is extremely difficult and time-consuming to use surrogacy for family building. We assist our international clients with a valet service that will take care of you from portal to portal to ensure that the process is as stress-free as possible.
Assisted reproduction represents medical science at its greatest — but it is also a daunting and emotional process. We help our clients through this process, aiming to make your journey as smooth and nondisruptive as possible.
Surrogacy raises a great many questions. What do I need to do to get my name on my baby’s birth certificate? . Does my surrogacy and/or egg donation contract protect me and my baby? Can my surrogate or egg donor change her mind? And, is surrogacy legal where my surrogate lives or where my baby will be born? Does my surrogate have appropriate medical insurance, and do I have adequate coverage for my baby? Is the money for my surrogate or egg donor in a protected account? Is it being managed to protect all parties? We can help answer these questions and ensure that your rights are protected.
We can help you find your surrogate or gestational carrier. We also help Intended Parents obtain prebirth court orders that set out the rights and obligations of the Intended Parents and terminate the parental rights of the surrogate. We meet with parents and explain the surrogacy and gestational carrier laws in the state of Maryland, where we are based.
Surrogacy and Gestational Carrier Contracts.
There are two types of surrogacy: gestational and traditional. In traditional surrogacy, the surrogate’s egg is fertilized by artificial insemination. In gestational surrogacy, in vitro fertilization is used to transfer another woman’s fertilized egg, or embryo, in the surrogate’s uterus. In gestational surrogacy, unlike in traditional surrogacy, the surrogate mother is not the genetic mother.
The parties to a gestational surrogacy contract include the Intended Mother and father as well as the surrogate or carrier (and her spouse, if she is married). Every surrogacy agreement, whether for traditional surrogacy or gestational surrogacy, must make clear that the Intended Parents shall become the legal parents of the child or children born to the carrier. While the surrogate in a gestational surrogacy is not genetically related to the child, you still need a legally enforceable gestational surrogacy agreement.
Many factors are considered when drafting a surrogacy or gestational carrier contract, including parental constitutional rights and right to privacy, the carrier’s constitutional rights, birth certificate identification, medical authorizations, surrogate selection (surrogate assessment, surrogate screening), communicating with and getting to know the carrier or surrogate and her family, confidentiality, the parties’ intentions, medical insurance coverage for the surrogate, compensation for living expenses,, the legal rights of the intended parents.
Professional Excellence in Family Formation Matters.
We are a professional firm committed to providing high quality, personalized surrogacy, egg donation, embryo donation, sperm donation advice, representation and related legal services to help couples and individuals world-wide create the family that they have always wanted. We provide open, semi-anonymous and anonymous arrangements. Each client’s confidentiality is absolutely assured.
We offer experience, relationships in the community that can serve you, the skills you need to protect your rights, the ability to screen donors and carriers to ensure proper mental and physical health, the ability to manage your relationship with your surrogate, and most of all the ability to form your family.
If you are interested in receiving more information, please feel free to contact us to set up a consultation.