GSHC Surrogacy School is in session! Read our in-house guide on the ins-and-outs of the journey.
GSHC Surrogacy School is in session! Read our in-house guide on the ins-and-outs of the journey.
Eric A. Stovall began practicing law in 1987. He has since helped thousands of Nevada families grow through surrogacy and adoption. Since 2013, Nevada surrogacy law has established policies that are among the most progressive in the country. New protections and inclusions have made the state a popular place for family formations of all descriptions. Eric stays current with all of these legal developments. He offers informed and dedicated counsel to prospective parents, surrogates and adoption agencies.
As part of his commitment to families, Eric helped found the American Academy of Assisted Reproductive Technology Attorneys (AAARTA) and is also an active member of the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys (AAAA). These organizations are the acknowledged experts in surrogacy and adoption law. Additionally, Eric is the President of AAAA.
Eric’s office itemizes the legal fees for establishing parentage as follows:
When representing Intended Parents:
When representing Surrogate:
If a surrogate gets married during the course of the surrogacy arrangement after signing the contract, the surrogate must inform her attorney and the surrogacy attorney immediately. The surrogacy attorney will add the spouse to the Gestational Surrogacy Agreement (GSA) because there are issues related to privacy, confidentiality, and parentage that pertain to the spouse. The spouse is also a vital part of the Pre-Birth Order (PBO) process to define that the surrogate and her spouse are not the legal parents of the child.
The surrogacy contract is the written device that lets the intended parents and the surrogate know what is expected of them during the surrogacy arrangement. It outlines what each party is expected to do as well as what is required of them during the journey, It also provides remedies and paths to lead the parties through a disagreement in the event that there are complications on the journey.
Ideally, all parties will connect. via the agency to talk out and negotiate a situation that is not proceeding as they expected or as the contract requires. If those conversations do not remedy the situation, Eric’s contracts include a requirement for mediation. This is a formal process in which the parties meet with an experienced mediator to explain their situation and try to come up with a resolution that all parties agree to. If the mediation does not work out, then and only then would the parties proceed to litigation to settle the disagreement.
Nevada law does not specify whether or not the intended parents or the surrogate are married. Nevada laws also allows for same-sex couples to engage in a surrogacy arrengement on either side.
The updated surrogacy laws currently in place in Nevada are cutting edge and extremely friendly.
Traditional surrogacy (in which a surrogate uses her own eggs in the process) is not allowed in Nevada.
In order for the contract to be completed under Nevada law, any one of the following conditions must be met:
Surrogacy agencies have expertise that the intended parents and the surrogate just don’t have. They are used to dealing with surrogacy contracts and they know how the process works. Many surrogacy employees have also been surrogates themselves and they have firsthand experience with the process. A good agency will also do a throrough vetting fo the surrogate prior to matching them with intended parents to ensure there are no issues or red flags in their past.
Additionally, a surrogacy agency is a buffer between the parties in the arrangement. Surrogates and intended parents can speak directly about milestones during the journey. If there are more serious issues related to compensation or expectations of the arrangement, the surrogacy agency can get involved to fix the disagreement and preserve the relationship between the surrogate and intended parents.
Ultimately, the intended parents are responsible for all medical costs incurred by the surrogate during pregnancy and birth.
A gestational surrogate with GSHC Surrogacy & Egg Donation is required to have a medical insurance plan in place for the pregnancy so that the out-of-pocket costs are minimized for the journey. Intended parents are responsible for all premiums, deductibles, and out-of-pocket maximums for the policy.
No. Legally, the surrogate cannot decide to keep the baby. At no point during the process is the child recognized as the parent of the child since no genetic material has contributed to the child.
To learn more about the parentage process in the state of Nevada, please contact Eric Stovall and his team via their website: nevadaadoptionlawyer.com.
