In the journey of family-building, assisted reproduction technology (ART) offers a beacon of hope for many intended parents.

A known sperm donor agreement (“KspDA”) is used when prospective parents want to make an agreement with a person known to them for sperm donation services. Sperm donation helps parents conceive in any case where the male partner is infertile or among same-sex female couples.

Even if you know someone who has agreed to serve as a surrogate mother for your future child – and even if that person doesn’t reside in your state – it’s still essential to find an attorney you can trust to help you through the process in your home state.

Egg donation happens when a donor gives her eggs to another person(s) to allow the recipient to become pregnant or to use with a surrogate. An egg donor may be someone known to the recipient or could be connected through the IVF clinic or an Egg Donor Program.  To donate, the donor must be given medication to develop multiple eggs over a single cycle.

Surrogacy is a long journey for both the Intended Parents and the surrogate mother. It takes much longer than nine months – many  Intended Parents work toward the dream of growing their family for years.

Every surrogacy process needs to include a surrogacy contract. The contract lays out the responsibilities and rights of all the parties to the surrogacy. While the idea of a contract can sometimes be intimidating, it is for the best when everyone knows exactly what to expect!

In a pregnancy, a gestational carrier has a role similar to a traditional surrogate. The difference is that the gestational carrier is not genetically related to the child. Before pregnancy, an embryo is fertilized using the egg and sperm of the intended parents or of donors the parents choose.

Surrogacy is a complex journey. A successful surrogacy journey takes lots of preparation and may require months of work both before and after the pregnancy.

Second-parent adoptions have been around longer than many people realize because up until 2017, they had not been legalized in all 50 states. DC, for example, legalized second-parent adoptions over 20 years ago, which has led to the establishment of laws to protect all parties involved. Virginia came on board in 2014 for married same-sex couples and although Maryland has been granting second-parent adoptions under case law for over 20 years, the new law that came into effect June 1, 2020 extends those laws to ensure that both married and unmarried couples can take advantage of the law and to allow for expedited second parent adoptions.

The journey of adoptive parents and surrogates can be a long and complex one that requires time and attention. The steps involved are usually put into place to help protect the individuals, including the Child. One of the first steps that happen in the surrogacy process is medical clearance. Learn more about what medical clearance is and why it’s necessary through Intended Parent Legal Services.

Ever since the infamous case of Baby M. in 1986, both surrogates and those who plan to become the child's legal parents are aware of the potential for contract disputes. At that time, the focus revolved around two questions: Is it legal for a woman to receive monetary compensation for a child she carried in her womb for someone else? And who really is the legal mother?