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states have laws that in some fashion address surrogacy. Five
have actually seen fit to criminalize surrogacy. They are
AZ, MI, NY, UT, WA, as well as DC. The other states have laws
that say surrogate contracts are invalid, that set up elaborate
mechanisms to approve contracts, or that regulate the payment
of fees to surrogates.
In the AI program,
your lawyer goes to court before the child is born and obtains
a court order saying that the husband (or single man) is the
father of the child, and directing that his name go on the
original birth certificate. After the child is born, the surrogate
signs consent forms that either terminate her parental rights,
leaving the man with sole custody of the child, or that allow
the wife of the couple to adopt. That step-parent adoption
generally takes place in the couple's state, unless they reside
in one of the states where surrogacy is illegal. In that case,
that adoption can occur in another state.
In the embryo transfer program, a similar
pre-birth court order is obtained, except that this order
says that the couple are the child's biological parents, and
their names go directly on the original birth certificate.
No adoption is necessary since they are the biological parents.
In either case, the couple (or individual) will take the child
directly from the hospital back home with them.
In the embryo transfer program with an
egg donor, the pre-birth court order lists the father,
and does not list a mother at all. After the child is born,
the wife of the couple then adopts the child just as in the
AI program. If there is no wife, then the surrogate's parental
rights are terminated leaving the male with sole custody
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