If you and your spouse or partner have tried to start a family without success, surrogacy is often an option for couples looking to have a biological child. Not all areas of the United States are favorable toward surrogacy. However, California has the friendliest surrogacy laws in the nation, making it easier for you to become parents.
How California paves the way for surrogacy
To establish your parentage in a situation involving gestational surrogacy, you must follow specific steps before the child is born. As future parents, you must hire an attorney while your surrogate must retain a separate attorney for the surrogacy process. You must execute your surrogacy agreement before your surrogate begins medications or has any related medical procedures.
California is friendly to prospective parents because the state allows you to hire and fairly pay a surrogate for her services. As a surrogacy-friendly state, California doesn’t require post-birth legal action because the intended parents can put their names onto the birth certificate after the child is born as long as the surrogate gives up her parental obligations.
What if we can’t find a suitable surrogate in California?
Finding a suitable gestational surrogate can be difficult. If you can’t find one in California, look for one in other surrogate-friendly states like Connecticut, Delaware, Nevada, New Hampshire or Colorado, Oregon, Washington, or Georgia. These states also have favorable laws for surrogates, so your legal proceedings will go more smoothly.
Surrogacy has complex legal requirements, but they are not impossible to navigate. Couples considering this route need to have a plan in place to successfully find and negotiate an agreement with a surrogate. Your contract will include elements that include compensation, medical bills, pay for lost wages, medical decisions and insurance.