One of the most surprising aspects of starting a surrogacy arrangement, whether as a gestational carrier or an intended parent, is that laws regarding surrogacy are complex and varied. Surrogacy law is not nationwide in the United States. It is up to individual states to set laws, statutes, and/or guidance on what is and what…
Getting advice about surrogacy regulations before entering into any surrogacy arrangement will ensure that all parties involved understand matters in their legal context and know what they are committing to.
On February 15, 2021, the Child-Parent Security Act in New York finally brought an end to the decades-long ban on paid gestational surrogacy that hindered modern family-building for countless New Yorkers.
In the infamous case of Baby M in 1985, a traditional surrogate (not a gestational surrogate) answered an intended parent couple’s newspaper ad, delivered the couple’s baby, and then changed her mind, deciding she wanted to keep the child and forgo compensation.
Though surrogacy law can vary from one state to another in the U.S., there are countries where gestational surrogacy, or even surrogacy generally, is entirely prohibited. When surrogacy isn’t allowed, it can leave those couples and individuals who are relying on this form of third-party reproduction to build their families in the lurch. In order…
In short, no. Gestational surrogacy agreements are not legal in all 50 states. In the U.S., it is up to individual states to determine the legality of surrogacy agreements, which is why you will find that laws vary widely from one state to the next.
