Today, many individuals previously unable to have children can form their families with the assistance of medical technology. In many cases these individuals require the assistance of third parties to provide the gametes (eggs or sperm), or embryos used for conception or they may require a gestational surrogate to gestate the child. In these circumstances the role of the attorney is to guide the intended parents through the process of forming their families to ensure that they will have a secure legal relationship with their child. For many years the law failed to keep pace with medical advances and therefore the legal options available to intended parents were wholly inadequate, which led to some heartbreaking outcomes. Thankfully the law has finally evolved with the changing times and today, those forming their families through Third Party Reproduction can be secure in the knowledge that the law in New York and New Jersey will protect their exclusive legal relationship with their child.
For over twenty years, Rumbold & Seidelman has been at the forefront of reforming New York’s restrictive and out of date parentage laws to ensure that the parents of children conceived through Third Party Reproduction have a legally secure relationship with their children.
A legal Agreement between intended parents and donors which addresses issues such as the relinquishment of the donor’s parental rights, confidentiality, compensation, expenses, insurance coverage and updating medical information.
Medical treatments for infertility including ovum/sperm/embryo donation and gestational surrogacy.
A legally enforceable agreement between intended parents and a gestational surrogate in which the surrogate agrees to gestate a child who, from birth, will be recognized as the legal child of the intended parents.
An order, issued by a court before the child’s birth, declaring the intended parents, rather than the gestational surrogate, the legal parents of the child. The order goes into effect the moment of birth.
The use of eggs, sperm, or embryos that have been donated by a third person (donor) to enable an infertile individual or couple (intended parents) to become parent(s) as well as gestational surrogacy arrangements.
An arrangement where a woman, who does not intend to parent, provides the egg used in conception and carries a pregnancy for an individual or couple who are intending to be the legal parents of the child.
