When all goes well, gestational surrogacy can be a good way for a person to become a parent even if she is not able to carry a child herself. But if things don’t go well, the process can lead to some incredibly difficult issues.
That’s why it’s crucial for all parties involved to have legal representation and a well-drafted surrogacy contract.
You can’t cancel a surrogacy contract
When you are party to a binding contract, you can’t just walk away from it if you change your mind. If, for instance, you have contracted to buy a house, the seller can legally enforce that obligation on you.
This concept applies to surrogacy contracts as well, but in these cases the issues are much more complex because there are pregnancies and, eventually, babies involved.
Still, there have been at least two cases in which popular actresses who tried to get out of surrogacy contracts after they split with their romantic partners while their gestational surrogate was pregnant. These actresses then tried to get out of the contractual obligations, intending to leave either their partner or the surrogate mother as the legal parent.
There are also cases in which a surrogate mother changes her mind and decides she wants to keep the baby.
More commonly, there are cases in which the intended parents learn of an abnormality in the fetus and seek to have the surrogate terminate the pregnancy.
Enforcing a contract
As you can imagine, it can be incredibly difficult to resolve these disputes when they arise. It is much better to avoid them in the first place through effective communication and executing a surrogacy contract that accounts for these and other potential problems.
However, even if you have a good contract, if the other party isn’t meeting their obligations, you may have to go to court to enforce the contract.
This isn’t easy to do. Every state has its own way of dealing with surrogacy law. Some states ban nearly all surrogacy contracts, while others have much looser regulations.
New York regulates surrogacy under the Child-Parent Security Act. This law spells out rights of both intended parents and surrogates, and provides guidelines for enforcement and protecting the rights of all involved.