As a woman who would like to help another family have a much-wanted child, you may be considering surrogacy. Surrogacy is a wonderful way to help someone else while also getting something that you want, such as a specific payment for carrying another couple’s child.
With the assisted reproduction technologies that are available today, surrogates may carry a child who is not related to them at all but that could still be recognized as theirs upon birth. For that reason, it’s necessary to have a strong contract that goes over your rights as well as the rights of the other party.
Your rights as a surrogate
Surrogates, who may also be called gestational carriers, need to have legal protections in place to help them address legal parenthood and aspects of the case that may be otherwise overlooked. Usually, you will need to go through a medical screening process to be sure that you are healthy enough to carry a child. You may also ask that the other party is screened for their readiness to parent and the ability to care for a child who has been carried by a third party.
One of the helpful documents that you may be able to get prior to giving birth to the child is a pre-birth parentage order. You may also be able to develop strong contracts that help remove the risk of having to pay child support or care for the child yourself.
What does a pre-birth parentage order do?
A pre-birth parentage order declares that the intended parents will be the legal parents of the child after his or her birth. With this order, there will be no question about who has the responsibility to provide care for the child following birth.
You may think that everyone involved in your case has a clear understanding of who will care for the child and what kinds of rights and responsibilities you have as a surrogate, but it’s best to get all of these things in writing and to be sure that your agreements are legally binding. If you have any disputes prior to or after the birth of the child, you will want to have these contracts to fall back on.
