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Home > Assisted Reproduction (ART) > Intended Parents > Gestational Surrogacy > Using a Friend or Relative

Working With a Friend or Relative

Working with a friend or relative who is your gestational surrogate can be both incredibly rewarding and anxiety producing. It may feel silly or ungrateful to ask for legal documents and lawyers, when the surrogate is making this incredibly generous gesture, but it is essential to involve legal counsel. They will make you and your surrogate think through all the issues involved, even the hard and uncomfortable ones like money and abortion. Lawyers and legal documents will help you protect not just the future child, but also the friendship or family relationship.

The legal process will, of course, ensure that legal parentage is properly assigned (without the legal process the woman who gives birth to the child is the legal mother in almost all, if not all jurisdictions).  But as importantly, it will provide a forum to discuss and anticipate things that might go wrong in the pregnancy, such as bed rest, issues surrounding control of pregnancy, and unexpected events at the birth. Having a final document that all can refer to when stressors arise during the pregnancy can be an invaluable way to protect the friendship, but as importantly, the decision-making process helps to minimize those stressors and allows the parties to focus on appreciating the journey.

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The Academy of Adoption and Assisted Reproduction Attorneys (AAAA) is a credentialed organization dedicated to the competent and ethical practice of adoption and assisted reproduction law. It advocates for laws and policies to protect the best interests of children, the legal status of families formed through adoption and assisted reproduction, and the rights of all interested parties.

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Academy of Adoption and Assisted Reproduction Attorneys (AAAA)
859 Riverside Drive, #9
Greenwood, IN 46142

T (317) 407-8422
Info@adoptionART.org

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DISCLAIMER: The Academy of Adoption and Assisted Reproduction Attorneys (AAAA) website is designed for general information only. Nothing on this website establishes an attorney-client relationship with AAAA or any of its member-attorneys.  AAAA website content does not constitute legal advice from AAAA or its member-attorneys to any reader or to the general public.  The law constantly changes and varies across state and international borders.  Consult qualified legal counsel in your jurisdiction regarding your particular situation. Click here for the AAAA Attorney Directory. The names and contact information included on this site are for the purpose of searching for an attorney for a particular legal case. The contact information may not be used for commercial, promotional, or advertising purposes.

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