Gestational Surrogacy
Agreements (GSA)

For Intended Parents or Gestational Surrogates:
We are here to help ensure your rights are protected and that the process is safe and secure. 

Surrogacy is a wonderful and often magical experience, but it is also a legal arrangement.

Whether you’re an intended parent or a gestational carrier, Meryl B. Rosenberg, Esq. and her team can work with you to ensure your Gestational Surrogacy Agreement (also referred to as Gestational Carrier Agreement) is just the right one for you — a road map for the process from beginning to end. 

Your agreement will detail the rights, obligations, and expectations of all parties. The more clearly the specifics are spelled-out up front, the better for all parties. Setting everyone’s expectations accurately from the start is critical to having a smooth and joyful surrogacy journey. Gestational Surrogacy Agreements define the precise and agreed-upon terms between gestational carriers and the intended parents, clarifying expected duties, decision-making responsibilities, fees, and more.

A comprehensive GSA always covers:

• Parental rights and custody of the child from birth

• Location of delivery

• Health insurance for the gestational carrier

• Other insurance obligations

• Payment of medical bills

• Medical decision-making during pregnancy: who will make them and how

• Financial considerations, such as the gestational surrogate’s compensation and expenses, including lost wages, legal fees, child care, housekeeping, maternity clothes, and life insurance  

• The need to provide the gestational carrier’s medical history and when

• Contact through the process, including the intended parents’ presence during physician visits and the delivery

• Informed consent

• Future contact between the gestational surrogate and the intended parent(s)

A surrogacy agreement should, above all, be understandable.

Your agreement will be drafted in a way that allows you to understand all of your obligations and considerations, clearly and comfortably. No agreement is ever finalized without taking the time to review every detail and to ensure complete understanding of the terms you are entering into. Beyond that, we spend time discussing the nuances of the arrangement to make sure that you have considered all relevant and critical issues as you proceed and before the actual procedures to achieve the desired pregnancy.

You will always need to understand what legal steps need to be taken in order for intended parents to secure their legal rights as parents. In assisted reproduction cases, you often will need to obtain a court order (otherwise referred to as a birth order or judgement) that legally recognizes the intended parents as the legal parents, and name or names are properly listed on the birth certificate. In a few states, and depending on your family dynamics, this may be accomplished through an administrative process. We are here to answer any questions you may have to properly guide and advise you. 

Each Gestational Carrier needs her own legal counsel.

Each gestational carrier (and donor for that matter) must be represented by competent, independent legal counsel, who will be responsible for review of the agreement and for issuing a legal clearance letter together with the intended parent’s attorney, stating that the gestational surrogate (and her partner if applicable) understands clearly the issues set forth in the contract; is proceeding with the arrangement voluntarily and without any coercion or undue influence; and is in full agreement with the terms of the agreement.

Meryl B. Rosenberg, Esq. and her team believe that entering into such agreements should never be adversarial. The gestational surrogacy arrangement is a voluntary and consensual one, so all parties to any surrogacy are “in it together,” with a common goal and a lot of mutual goodwill and respect.

As in all other legal areas related to surrogacy or family building through third party reproduction (assisted reproduction), we’re here to help! Whether you are an intended parent, a surrogate or a donor, we can prepare and review all legal paperwork including contracts, affidavits, and any other documents needed in your process, as well as are able to assist with the court process or the administrative process, depending on the state involved.