Assisted Reproduction and Surrogacy

Surrogacy is a term that refers to an agreement in which a woman carries a pregnancy for another person or persons who ultimately become the child’s parent or parents. A woman who agrees to carry the child is known as the surrogate mother or gestational carrier.

Surrogacy agreements address numerous legal issues, including costs, parental rights, and multiple contractual issues. A person who is hoping to become a surrogate mother or enter into a contract with a surrogate mother should ensure that he or she has legal representation to ensure the accuracy of a legal contract and that all party’s expectations are met.

Lawyer for Surrogate Mothers in Chester County PA

Are you planning on becoming or working with a gestational carrier in southeastern Pennsylvania? Contact Ciccarelli Law Offices for help making sure that all of your legal rights are protected.

Our family law attorneys in West Chester represent clients with adoption issues in communities all over Delaware County, Chester County, Montgomery County, Lancaster County, and the greater Philadelphia area.

You can have our West Chester PA based lawyers provide an honest and thorough evaluation of your case as soon as you call. Call (610) 692-8700 or send an online message for a free consultation so we can act as soon as possible. We are based in West Chester PA and serve clients throughout Chester County, Lancaster County and suburban Philadelphia including West Chester, Kennett Square, Oxford, Avondale, Landenberg, West Grove, Paoli, Malvern, Downingtown, Coatesville, Exton, Parkesburg, Berwyn and Devon. We have convenient meeting locations in Lancaster, Philadelphia, Plymouth Meeting, Kennett Square, Malvern, Springfield, King of Prussia, and Radnor. Our family lawyers serve those with immediate legal needs in Chester County, Montgomery County, Delaware County and Lancaster County.

Overview of Surrogate Mothers in Pennsylvania

What kinds of surrogacy are there?
Which forms will surrogate mothers have to file?
Where can I find more information about surrogate mothers in West Chester?

Types of Surrogacy in Chester County

While each family’s agreement with a surrogate may be different, the procedure to carryout a surrogacy is relatively standard. Essentially, there are two different types of surrogacy:

Traditional surrogacy involves surrogate mothers using their own eggs to carry an embryo for intended parents. Traditional surrogacy involves natural or artificial insemination of a surrogate, with the former resulting in both the intended father and surrogate mother being genetically related to the child while the latter results in parents not being genetically related to children.

Gestational surrogacy involves an embryo created by in vitro fertilization (IVF) technology being implanted into a surrogate or gestational carrier. Children conceived through gestational surrogacy are genetically unrelated to surrogates. Embryos may be created using an intended father’s sperm and an intended mother’s eggs, an intended father’s sperm and a donor egg, an intended mother’s egg and donor sperm, or a donor embryo.

West Chester Surrogacy Agreements

The Pennsylvania Department of Health, Division of Vital Records’ Assisted Conception Birth Registration procedure allows judges in all Pennsylvania counties to execute court orders in conjunction with Assisted Conception Birth Registration petitions, allowing for the issuance of the birth certificates directly in the names of the intended parents without the parties having to go through adoption proceedings. The Assisted Conception Birth Registration process is not available in Pennsylvania for a traditional surrogacy arrangement due to the surrogate’s genetic connection to the child she is carrying.

The Assisted Conception Birth Registration procedure also requires that a “Certificate of Live Birth” and a “Supplemental Report of Assisted Conception” be completed at the time of birth by the gestational carrier’s midwife or obstetrician. The intended parents obtain a “Pre Birth Order.”

Surrogacy agreements must cover specific concerns relating to the costs of medical treatment, insurance, and child custody. An experienced attorney can assist you in filing any pre-birth petitions or orders and all other related documents.

Pennsylvania Surrogate Mothers Resources

Register of Wills / Orphans’ Court | Chester County, PA — The Clerk of the Orphans’ Court accepts filings for adoptions. Use this website to read Chester County Orphans’ Court Local Rules. You can also view a fee schedule and access forms and documents.

J.F. v. D.B., Superior Court of Pennsylvania 897 A.2d 1261 (Pa. Super. 2006) — A biological father via surrogacy agreement asked the Superior Court to determine whether the trial court erred in holding that the gestational carrier had standing to seek custody of the triplet boys she carried and delivered, after having taken them from the hospital against the father’s wishes when they were eight days old. The Superior Court declined to comment on the validity of surrogacy contracts, either specifically in this case or generally in this Commonwealth, stating that such a task is for the legislature. The Superior Court limited its holding to its “conclusion that gestational carrier lacked standing to seek custody or challenge Father’s custody of the triplets” and, as a result, the “gestational carrier also lacked standing to seek termination of egg donor’s parental rights.”

Ciccarelli Law Offices | West Chester Surrogate Mothers Attorney

If you need assistance crafting any kind of surrogacy agreement in southeastern Pennsylvania, it is in your best interest to immediately retain legal counsel. Contact Ciccarelli Law Offices as soon as possible.

Our West Chester surrogacy lawyers have office locations in Malvern, Philadelphia, King of Prussia, Lancaster, Kennett Square, Radnor, Plymouth Square, and Springfield.

Call (610) 692-8700 complete an online contact form to have our attorneys review your case and answer all of your legal questions during a free, confidential consultation.