At Gifted Journeys, we have the pleasure of working with intended parents from all over the United States as well as international clients hoping to work with a gestational surrogate to achieve the dream of family building. Because we understand that matching with a surrogate quickly is a priority for most, we work very hard to offer an extensive gestational carrier database from which those with whom we are working can select appealing profiles. Diversity in our database is important to us and for practical reasons, diversity means gestational carriers who reside and will deliver in states across the U.S.
We work closely with a select group of Assisted Family Building law professionals and we stay current on legal development to be certain that we accept applications only from those carriers coming to us from ‘surrogacy friendly’ states. What exactly is a ‘surrogacy friendly’ state? At Gifted Journeys our mission is to assist you in efficiently and effectively building your family with the assistance of a gestational carrier (and donor gametes or donor embryo, if necessary). We work with surrogates who live in states where there is either clear and explicit state legislation (statutory law) allowing for surrogacy or explicit and reliable case law (court ruling). Such states are deemed ‘surrogacy friendly’ because, by taking the proper legal steps, your parentage will be secured without having to meet any conditions, the outcome of your legal efforts are both predictable and the law upon which your gestational carrier arrangement will be based is reliable. As of the writing of this blog (April, 2015), the most surrogacy friendly states in the country are as follows: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Nevada, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. In each of these states, Pre-Birth Orders will be issued meaning that your attorney will go into court prior to the birth of your baby and secure from the court an order validating that you are the baby’s legal parents.
There are other states that are also ‘surrogacy friendly’ depending on the particulars of your surrogacy arrangement. In some states, you must be a married heterosexual couple and/or one intended parent must have a genetic connection to the baby. Essentially, there are states that are very surrogacy friendly to some intended parents but not to others. When you meet with our staff at Gifted Journeys, we will discuss with you the states in which it would be best to find your gestational carrier. Please know that because we understand how fluid legal practices are when it comes to assisted family building, we understand our obligation to stay current on the latest legal developments and to partner with experienced and highly regarded attorneys who specialize in family building via surrogacy.
Making sure all the legal protections are in place such that your family building will be, legally speaking, safe is a top priority for us at Gifted Journeys. Our commitment to you is to match you with a gestational carrier who resides in/will deliver in the most ‘surrogacy friendly’ state given your circumstances. And, of course, we will connect you with the appropriate legal counsel so that you can feel comfortable with and confident in your surrogacy match and remain focused on your goal: creating a family.