When a friend or relative agrees to be your surrogate during your family-building process, they are giving you one of the most amazing gifts. You want to make sure that your Surrogacy Agreement covers all of your intentions fully. Here are some, but not all, of the basics your Agreement should include:

– The preamble of your agreement should include sufficient context, identifying all the parties, explaining the relationships with one another, explaining why the parties are entering into this agreement, and providing any other pertinent context.

– The agreement should identify the surrogate’s spouse, if any, and memorialize the spouse’s consent to the arrangement.

– The agreement should state the number of embryos to be transferred at a time and define the period and number of attempts.

– The agreement should cover the rights of all the parties during pregnancy (such as intended parents attending OB visits) and after birth (such as whether surrogate will have any type of relationship with the child).

– The agreement should name the medical care providers, whose health insurance will be used, and where the child shall be delivered.

– The agreement should discuss ethical issues and decision-making around terminating a pregnancy.

– The agreement should discuss finances, such as who will pay for maternity clothing, potential lost wages to the surrogate, uninsured medical expenses, etc.

As discussed previously on this blog, the law around assisted reproductive technology is evolving, so you should work with an attorney to make sure your Agreement is as enforceable and strong as possible.