Surrogate Mothers Online Q & A: What would you do if the surrogate Mother didn't want to give the babies to you? -Tarah

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Surrogate Mothers Online Q & A

Q & A: Legal/Contract Issues - Surrogacy

Topics may include contracts, legal fees, establishing parental rights, etc.

21. What would you do if the surrogate Mother didn't want to give the babies to you? -Tarah - Top

Dear Tarah,

At the beginning of the surrogacy all parties (both intended parents and the surrogate and her partner) signed contracts written by our lawyers stating that the child(ren) born thru this surrogacy would be ours upon their birth and that if she refused to release them to us she was liable to repay any/all fees and expenses as well as a 45,000 penalty and any other court awarded fines.

If she had decided to keep them, we would have taken her to court with the signed and witnessed contract as evidence as well as the affadavits from the attending physician that the embryos transferred to her belonged to us and were not genetically or biologically related to her, that she was just acting as the host for us.

But, prior to choosing to work with any surrogate, most people have the surrogate undergo a psychological evaluation to ensure that this and other difficult situations do not arise.

According to OPTS (Organization of Parents Through Surrogacy), less than 1/2 of 1% of all surrogacy arrangements fail and those "failures" are not always because the surrogate changes her mind. Some are because the intended parents have changed their minds (which is also a very bad situation for the surrogate).

Hope this helps.

Linda P - Updated: January 31, 2000
Topics may include contracts, legal fees, establishing parental rights, etc.

21. What would you do if the surrogate Mother didn't want to give the babies to you? -Tarah - Top: Dear Tarah,

At the beginning of the surrogacy all parties (both intended parents and the surrogate and her partner) signed contracts written by our lawyers stating that the child(ren) born thru this surrogacy would be ours upon their birth and that if she refused to release them to us she was liable to repay any/all fees and expenses as well as a 45,000 penalty and any other court awarded fines.

If she had decided to keep them, we would have taken her to court with the signed and witnessed contract as evidence as well as the affadavits from the attending physician that the embryos transferred to her belonged to us and were not genetically or biologically related to her, that she was just acting as the host for us.

But, prior to choosing to work with any surrogate, most people have the surrogate undergo a psychological evaluation to ensure that this and other difficult situations do not arise.

According to OPTS (Organization of Parents Through Surrogacy), less than 1/2 of 1% of all surrogacy arrangements fail and those "failures" are not always because the surrogate changes her mind. Some are because the intended parents have changed their minds (which is also a very bad situation for the surrogate).

Hope this helps.

Linda P - Updated: January 31, 2000

Unless stated otherwise, all responses in the SMO Q&A are courtesy of one or more of the following hosts:

Sherry - Experienced gestational surrogate currently working on her 2nd surrogacy arrangement

Linda - New Mommy to twins born via gestational surrogacy and egg donation

Jennifer S. - Experienced AI surrogate

Lynn - New Mommy to a daughter born via traditional surrogacy

Tracie - 5 time egg donor (triplets, 2 sets of twins and 2 singletons) and 3 time surrogate (2-AI, 1-IVF).

Lisa - Experienced egg donor and previous gestational surrogate currently working on her 2nd surrogacy arrangement (Lisa was our former ED host, prior to July 1999.)
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