Alternative Routes To Having Children: Legal Factors You Should Keep In Mind
When you have been trying to have children naturally for a prolonged period of time but have been unable to successfully conceive or carry a child, you are likely looking for alternative options for having children. Fertility treatments may lead to the successful harvest of eggs or even the creation of fertilized embryos suited to in vitro implantation. However, if you are planning to go down this route or may need a donor for eggs, sperm, or to carry the child, then there are several legal factors that you will need to consider as you go about the process. Get to know some of these factors to consider so that you can determine if the alternative routes to having children are right for you.
Are You And Your Partner Both The Biological Parents?
The biological factors in conceiving a child through alternative means are important to consider before you get started. If you and your partner are both going to be the biological parents of the child in question and there is simply an issue of conceiving naturally or carrying the child, then you and your partner will both have legal parental rights when the child is born.
However, if only one of you is a biological parent, this can create some legal grey areas that you will need to address. Working with a fertility lawyer, you and your partner will want to draw up donor contracts for the third party who may be donating the egg or the sperm to the conception process. These contracts will need to state the role that the donor will have in the child's life (if any). Separately, you and your partner will need to draw up custody and parental rights paperwork to ensure that in spite of only one of you being the biological parent, you will both have legal custody and be the legal parents.
Are You Using A Surrogate?
Much like the scenario in which you need a sperm or egg donor, you will also need a contract if you are using a surrogate to carry your child. Even if you and your partner are the biological parents, you will want to make sure that you have legal contracts and arrangements with your surrogate so that your rights and her rights are protected.
A woman who carries a child, even one that is not biologically her own, can form an emotional attachment to the child in question. This is a natural reaction to the pregnancy process and can make some surrogates want to keep the child when it is born or to remain actively involved in the child's life.
You need to make legal contractual arrangements beforehand to ensure that you do not end up in a custody battle with the surrogate mother. Determine what all of you want prior to beginning the process. If your surrogate is a friend, then having them involved in your child's life or known to your child may be an option. But if they are not a family friend, you may want the situation to be closed and not have contact with the surrogate after the child is born.
Legal surrogate contracts also protect the surrogate in determining the compensation, if any, they will receive, as well as medical bill coverage and the like. These contracts should be drawn up and signed well before the implantation process is even attempted to ensure there are no legal grey areas.
Now that you know a bit more about the legal factors to consider when you are looking into alternative routes to having children, you can be sure that you take the steps necessary to protect your interests as you move forward in your attempts to have children. For more information, visit a website like http://www.janssenlawoffice.com.