Three Reasons to Use a California Surrogacy Lawyer

Choosing a top surrogacy lawyer to execute your gestational surrogacy agreement is critical for several reasons. A surrogacy lawyer (also called a fertility or family lawyer) will work to protect the parental rights of intended parents when they opt for gestational surrogacy in order to build a family or will represent the surrogate to ensure proper compensation and treatment, according to the law.

Here are three reasons to use a surrogacy lawyer in the state of California:

1. Using a surrogacy attorney in California is required by law.

Even though people think of California as a surrogacy-friendly state, surrogacy law requires that the intended parents and the surrogate be represented by separate legal counsel. Your surrogacy lawyer’s job is to walk you through all the legal steps of the surrogacy process:

  • Consultation to understand California parental and surrogacy rights and responsibilities
  • Drafting and review of the surrogacy agreement
  • Notarization of the agreement
  • Confirmation of legal parentage in a court of law

Surrogacy law is complicated and surrogacy agreements can be difficult to understand. The requirement to obtain legal counsel in California is a way of protecting both intended parents and gestational surrogates.

2. In California, parental rights must be established by a judge.

In order for intended parents to establish their legal parentage, all parties must provide written testimony that the child being gestated by the surrogate is the result of an embryo transfer procedure using embryos belonging to the intended parents. The following people need to certify these facts in writing:

  • IVF physician
  • Intended parent(s)
  • Surrogate
  • Attorneys

California is one of the only states that fosters this process (called a pre-birth order) before the child has been born. Once completed, the state officially recognizes the intended parents as the legal parents in all aspects of the child’s care, including medical decisions to be made at the time of birth.

3. Surrogacy is an emotionally complex process for prospective parent(s) and the surrogate.

Working with a surrogate is not the same as working with any other type of partner. There are hopes, dreams and emotions all wrapped up in the delicate balance that is the surrogacy agreement. Having a California surrogacy lawyer involved from the moment you decide to use or be a surrogate is a great way to inject objective knowledge into the process. Your surrogacy lawyer is your professional legal representative who will make sure that you are best protected against legal issues relating to parental rights, compensation or dereliction of duties.

For more information about surrogacy law in California, please review our Frequently Asked Questions page. To schedule a consultation with one of our top California surrogacy lawyers, call 619-235-8913.

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