Parentage Actions

In all cases where a surrogate gives birth to a child for another couple or person, the Office of Vital Records will only allow an intended parent's name to go on the birth certificate if the certificate is accompanied by a Court judgment naming the intended parent as the legal parent of the child.  Without that judgment, the Surrogate will be listed as mother and the Sperm donor/ Intended Father or her husband (depending on the State) listed as father.  Depending upon which state the child is born, the judgment might be in the form of a Pre-birth Order, a Post-Birth Affirmation, a Termination of Parentage or a Termination with a Step-parent adoption.

Some states, such as Florida, have the procedures statutorily mandated.  As you may imagine, when procedure is driven by statute, the petitioning Intended Parent will clearly see what documents or evidence will be necessary to present to the Court.  Other states, such as California, have procedures derived from case law.  

Generally States which are not statutorily driven rely on adoption theories to provide resolutions to a gestational surrogacy question.  These tend to be more problematic as the constitutional protections for the birth mother are strong. Overcoming that constitutional bar will certainly require very specific pleadings and testimony so as to provide the court reassurance that the birth mother is participating voluntarily and that genetic connections are appropriate for a gestational surrogacy.

Most states will require the Court to approve the Surrogacy Agreement as a precondition to judgment.  However, all states have time limits on birth certificate procedures which have to be closely scrutinized before the birth.  All of these procedural requirements will have to be discussed and resolved prior to the execution of your Gestational Surrogacy Agreement.