Donor-Conceived Children—Telling Your Child’s Birth Story: Why, When, and How
Colorado passed a law in June, 2022 that will take effect in 2025 in which it was determined that donor-conceived children have a right to learn the identity of their donor(s). This means that at facilities in Colorado, only donors who agree to have their identities revealed (upon request) to offspring conceived of their donations when said offspring turn 18 years old are accepted as donors. This effectively banned Read More
Abortion Restriction and Surrogacy in America Post-Dobbs
In the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2022), the United States Supreme Court overturned the landmark case of Roe v. Wade (1973) and found that the U.S. Constitution does not protect the right to an abortion. In Dobbs, the Supreme Court reviewed the constitutionality of Mississippi’s Gestational Age Act—a law banning most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy with exceptions for medical Read More
Understanding Genetic Testing
PGT testing is preimplantation genetic testing that is performed during an IVF cycle that allows physicians to identify genetic or chromosomal defects in an embryo. The goal of PGT is to significantly reduce the chance of transferring an embryo that has a specific genetic condition or chromosomal abnormality.For many intended parents, the ability to detect abnormalities in their embryos pre-transfer represents an Read More
Insurance – 101 – The Health Insurance Question
We’ve decided to do a blog post series on navigating insurance in gestational surrogacy because it’s a recurring source of stress for many of our clients. Although (for most of us), learning the ins and outs of insurance products is not high on our list of desirable ways to spend time, obtaining even a moderate level of understanding about the way that insurance works (and helps) in a surrogacy journey can ultimately Read More
How Does Escrow Work in a Surrogacy Journey?
An escrow account, in general, is an account held by a third party on behalf of parties who are completing a transaction. In a surrogacy context, this is when a third party (escrow agent) is selected to hold the funds that will be provided to the gestational carrier and to disburse those funds according to the contract terms. Who is the escrow agent? Some surrogacy agencies offer internal escrow account services, Read More
What is a Gestational Surrogacy Agreement (GSA) and Why Do I Need One?
You’ve finally reached that exciting part of your journey where you’ve found a surrogate, cleared all the medical and psychological expectations, and are ready to start the transfer process! The last thing your clinic tells you that you need to do is work with an attorney to draft a gestational surrogacy agreement (GSA) (also called a gestational carrier agreement, or GCA). What is this document and why do you need Read More
Three Benefits of Hiring an ART Attorney for Your Family Building Needs
Assisted reproductive technology (ART) law is still an evolving area of law and can be scary or overwhelming for intended parents trying to start a surrogacy journey. By this point you have already gone through and done so much that having to figure out yet another step can seem like the final straw. You may want to dive right in and figure things out on your own. However, hiring an ART attorney can save you time and Read More
Here is Where to Start
ROADMAPPING YOUR FERTILITY JOURNEYI’ve had a lot of coaching calls with clients recently and a common theme has emerged. So I thought I’d blog about it! The word of the month (other than “baby boom” – as we’ve had 7 new Villagers born this month) here at Village Law Group is “PRIORITIES.” As I work with clients who are struggling with the overwhelming number of variables, twists, and turns in their family Read More
Selecting Your Medical Clinic
One of the very first (and most important) steps in a surrogacy journey is selecting your medical clinic. Your reproductive endocrinologist (RE) is like the quarterback of your family building team. So it’s important that he/she be up to the job. Here are some tips on choosing a fertility clinic and reproductive endocrinologist. When researching clinics, you can find information:On their websites On the Center for Read More