The surrogacy laws in New York are changing. Family Law and Business Law practice areas join forces for surrogacy clients. Beth DiPirro, Keli Iles-Hernandez, and Jamie Batt are prepared to help NYS couples and surrogates navigate the layered and often emotional process of surrogacy.
The team provides Patrick Connelly of Buffalo Business First insight about the surrogacy laws, specifically, the Child-Parent Security Act that was signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
“The law now enables us when we create a contract to outline the rights and obligations of all of those who are going to participate in the creation of the new life,” said DiPirro. “It will outline the rights of the intended parents and the gestational carrier.”
She said the contracts will address medical issues that may develop during a pregnancy and legally allow intended parents to have a say in what happens should something come to light.
The law additionally creates a Surrogates’ Bill of Rights that includes more protections. Surrogates will have a choice to terminate or continue a pregnancy if it poses health risks.
Batt, primarily a business attorney at the firm, has assisted on memorandums of understanding for surrogacy situations over the years. She has a child born through surrogacy and understands the legal needs from her personal and emotional experience.
“I know the whole process from start to finish,” she said. “I felt like it was something I could really help people with. With the law changing, we thought it would be a great time to further this group, dive into this and get more involved.”
The upcoming legal change, Graham said, brings New York up to speed with other states.
“There were a lot of people lobbying against it for so many years because there was such significant concern of potentially exploiting women who were willing to act as gestational carriers,” Graham said. “I think one of the unique aspects of this law that should be highlighted is that the protections are the strongest nationally that are available among the various state laws.”
The attorneys will focus on explaining the provisions to be included in contracts.
“This can be a scary or daunting thing for any individual, whether you’re the intended parent or surrogate,” Graham said. “We’re going to be able to help people navigate through that.”