Surrogacy is one option for those with fertility problems to start a family. It’s an option that has dramatically increased in popularity throughout the globe. In Idaho, a new surrogacy law is being proposed that can help parents even more if passed.
Understanding Idaho’s proposed law
Idaho’s House of Representatives has proposed a new potential law, House Bill 264, which addresses surrogacy and protects all parties involved in the gestational carrier agreement process. If passed, the Gestational Agreements Act, co-sponsored by State Reps Democrat Brooke Green and Republican Dori Healey, legal oversight of the surrogacy industry would enhance the already strong laws and codify best practices already in place.
Parents currently face hurdles
If passed, the new law would protect babies, intended parents and gestational carriers in the state. Although Idaho is one of the leaders in surrogacy, the current law views the person who gives birth to the child as the legal mother. As a result, although gestational carriers don’t share any genetic link to the child they deliver, they must relinquish parental rights to the intended parents. This is even the case despite the contract the carrier and the parents entered into.
One couple who resides in the state shared their story of struggles with infertility for 10 years. After the wife delivered their first child using a donor egg and underwent pregnancy complications, they decided to turn to surrogacy to have a second baby. The mother explained that she had cancer and it was an arduous process proving that their child was their own. After two years, she and her husband are still trying to establish that their baby is theirs.
The Idaho House of Representatives has thrown ample support toward the bill. Democrats and Republicans want to see intended parents automatically established as the legal parents of children born through surrogacy.
Surrogacy with a gestational carrier is often the best option available to couples and individuals who cannot carry their children to term.