Surrogacy
Pondel Law offers legal services for all aspects of surrogacy arrangements. These include working with agencies to help define the scope of the relationship with your surrogate and working with private surrogacy arrangements.
Whether you are potential surrogate looking to help another family, or you are seeking a surrogacy arrangement to start or grow your family, we are able to provide high-quality, confidential and trusted legal advice. If you are looking for a California Surrogacy Lawyer in Los Angeles or the San Francisco Bay Area please call 310-598-6428 to schedule a consultation.
Our office can assist you with:
- Traditional surrogacy
- Gestational surrogacy
- Anonymous surrogacy
- Semi-anonymous surrogacy
- Drafting surrogacy contracts for the intended parents and the surrogate
- Representation in legal proceedings to establish parental rights
- Sperm donation and egg donation arrangements
- Parenting plans
- Visitation rights or rights to future contact with intended parents, surrogate or child.
- Screening of potential surrogate or intended parents
- Background checks
What is Traditional Surrogacy?
In a traditional surrogacy arrangement, the surrogate woman is pregnant with her own biological child, but the child was conceived with the intention of turning the child over, once born, to the intended parents. The surrogate woman can be impregnated with the intended father's sperm, or with a sperm donation from an anonymous or semi-anonymous sperm donor. The child may be conceived via sexual intercourse or artificial insemination performed at a health clinic.
What is Gestational Surrogacy?
In a gestational surrogacy arrangement, the surrogate agrees to be the carrier for an embryo that she has no genetic relation to. The embryo may come from the egg of the intended mother and the sperm of the intended father, or from a donated egg and a donor sperm. The embryo may also be a combination of a donated egg and the sperm of the intended father or from donated sperm and the egg of the intended mother. Regardless of the combination, the surrogate in a gestational surrogacy arrangement does not have any genetic relation to the embryo. In this situation, the surrogate woman agrees to undergo the pregnancy, labor and delivery for another who either cannot or chooses not to themselves.
What is Commercial Surrogacy?
In a commercial surrogacy arrangement, the surrogate receives compensation for carrying and delivering the child, regardless of whether it is a traditional surrogacy or a gestational surrogacy. The legal aspects surrounding commercial surrogacy are complex and unsettled. It is critical that surrogates and intended parents consult an attorney to learn more about the laws in their state or jurisdiction. Commercial surrogacy is illegal in many jurisdictions.
What is Altruistic Surrogacy?
In an altruistic surrogacy arrangement, the carrier surrogate receives no compensation for carrying and delivering the child for the intended parents. However, in this situation, it is very common for the intended parents to pay for medical expenses related to carrying and delivering the child.
The information you obtain at this site is not, nor is it intended to be, legal advice. You should consult an attorney for advice regarding your individual situation. We invite you to contact us and welcome your calls, letters and electronic mail. Contacting us does not create an attorney-client relationship. Please do not send any confidential information to us until such time as an attorney-client relationship has been established.