# going to try surrogacy in US



## Geri (Feb 18, 2009)

Hello ladies (and gents)


I'm just starting to look into surrogacy and I would really appreciate some advice from you knowledgeable wonderful folks out there.
My DH and I are British and have lived in the US for 18mths.  We are looking into surrogacy here, hopefully using both our eggs and sperm.  We are blessed with our son, conceived on our 8th IVF cycle with immune help (IVIG, steroids, etc etc).  He was born in the US and has a US birth certificate.
Trying for #2, we've found out my immune issues are worse than before - higher NK cell activity and DH and I have 100% DQ Alpha match.  We've just completed a failed IVF attempt with 2 "normal" CGH tested blasts, and all the immune treatment.  We've decided we can't do it anymore ourselves and are looking into other options.


My questions:
pls any advise on whether we would be able to do surrogacy here in the US and be legal parents of the child?
how does it work?  approx timelength?
would it make sense to try with our DQ alpha match?  I'm assuming our surromum would be tested prior for any immune issues, in case her body rejects our embies?
how do we investigate finding a possible surromum?
I understand one difference in the US over the UK is payment occurs.  Any other majors pros/cons people know about?


Sorry, I feel really naive.  But this forum has kept me going on so many occasions.  I'd really appreciate any advice and pointers in the right direction.


Thanks so much


Geri
x


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## Geri (Feb 18, 2009)

Hi Rosie
That would be wonderful to get the details of some US friends who I can quiz.
Thanks so much.
Good luck with your journey too 
x


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## LouGhevaert (May 18, 2009)

Dear Geri

There is no international harmonisation of surrogacy law - with each country and US state taking a different legal approach, with some being surrogacy friendly and others outlawing it altogether.  If you do decide to enter into a cross-border surrogacy arrangement, you should ensure you first obtain expert legal advice so you can manage the legal issues as effectively as possible.

Do also remember that a US birth certificate or US parentage order naming you both as the parents of your child following surrogacy will not be automatically recognized in the UK and English law expects you to apply to the English court for a parental order to obtain legal parental rights for your child.  This is important if you retain an English personal system of law and if you might want to parent your child in the UK at some future point - particularly as there is a legal non-extendable deadline of 6 months after the birth to apply for a parental order in the English court.

All the best

LouGhevaert


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## Geri (Feb 18, 2009)

Thanks very much Lou.  This gets more complicated with each stone turned!  I didn't realise that about the legality of it.
Is it relatively "easy" to apply for the parental order you mention?  Could we do it during that 6mth period, whilst based in the US?  Are there any future repercussions for a surrogate baby, born in the US, with a US passport, but with our UK parental order.....  Can we apply for a UK passport (as with our US-born son) as we are both British parents?


Thanks again for your help.


Geri


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## LouGhevaert (May 18, 2009)

Hi Geri

A parental order application in the English court is likely to be a legally involved exercise, due to the international context of your situation and the fact that the court here will assume your surrogacy arrangement was commercial (which breaches the UK public policy restriction against commercial surrogacy).  Specialist legal advice about this is therefore very important if you are to tackle all of the legal issues and secure your family's legal position from an English law perspective.

Provided you meet all of the legal criteria (which we would need to check carefully and specifically ensure as part of that exercise that one or both of you is domiciled in a part of the UK) you could apply for a parental order whilst you are based in the US.

You will also need to take care over citizenship and nationality issues as the nature of your surrogacy arrangement will dictate whether or not your child will be born British and entitled to a British passport.  If your child is not born British, this is likley to be an added complictaion for you in terms of coming to the UK and parenting your child here (although if your child is not initially born British and you sucecssfully obtain a parental order this will then usually confer British citizenship upon your child).

I strongly recommend you explore the English legal position thoroughly before proceeding if you might return to the UK as a family at some future point - the law is not always logical and joined up and it can be a real minefield.  

Hope this helps.

LouGhevaert


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