What Are the Legal Requirements for a Surrogate?
Surrogacy is a unique process that allows couples who are unable to have children of their own to start a family. Through the surrogacy agency Adoption and Surrogacy Choices of Colorado, intended parents approach the agency, and the surrogate mother they are matched with will carry their baby through the means of gestational surrogacy. In the gestational surrogacy process, the surrogate mother will become pregnant through In Vitro Fertilization or IVF. There are risks and technicalities that accompany the surrogacy process, so legal action is required to protect all people involved. As a surrogate mother, it is important to go through a surrogacy agency that will guide you through all the legal requirements and help make the process as smooth as possible. Suppose you’re wondering how to become a surrogate mother and want to know the legal requirements. In that case, you will have to fulfill, read on to discover what is in store for you if you choose to pursue surrogacy through Adoption and Surrogacy Choices of Colorado.
If you or someone you know is interested in becoming a surrogate, please call or text us at 303-670-4673 (HOPE) or visit us at Adoption and Surrogacy Choices of Colorado.
Meeting Surrogacy Requirements Before IVF
You have to qualify to be a surrogate mother before you are matched with a couple and go through the IVF process. The requirements that Adoption and Surrogacy Choices of Colorado follows have been set in place by The American Society for Reproductive Medicine. These qualifications ensure that our surrogate mothers are healthy enough to hold a child, both mentally and physically. After you submit an application signifying that you meet the initial qualifications to become a surrogate mother, you will undergo a health screening and a mental screening. Professionals will determine if you are adequately equipped to be a surrogate mother. There are quite a few regulations in place for qualifying to be a surrogate mother. Still, these qualifications are essential to ensure the safety of the baby you will carry and protect both you and the intended parents from physical and emotional damage.
Legal Compensation for Surrogate Mothers
In Colorado, it is legal to compensate surrogate mothers, but there are no laws in place to determine how much surrogates should be paid and no law to establish a base pay rate. Therefore, the details of your compensation will be determined in the surrogacy contract that you formulate with the intended parents. This contract will determine your agreement’s specific details with the intended parents. It will allow you to determine the specific needs and requirements you desire before the process commences. Please speak to your legal adviser for more information on this matter.
Legal Contract With the Intended Parents
Their attorney will draft the contract you form with the intended parents, but you will be able to review it with an attorney of your own to ensure you are comfortable with the contract’s requirements. Included in the contract will be specific details related to:
- Compensation
- Possible risks
- Responsibilities as the surrogate
- Surrendering the child
Each contract will be tailored to the specific case you are involved in, and additional areas may be covered. Once both you and the intended parents agree to the contract, the official surrogacy process will begin.
Legal Parentage of the Child
One of the legal requirements that will be fulfilled is establishing legal parentage. The intended parents will be the legal parents of the child you give birth to, and you will have to agree to relinquish the child after birth in the contract. Although this process is difficult, it is a vital aspect of surrogacy since surrogacy is done out of service for a couple that is unable to have a child of their own.
Beginning the Surrogacy Process
If you are interested in pursuing surrogacy and wish to work for a couple that is unable to have children of their own, Adoption and Surrogacy Choices of Colorado is eager to assist you. The legal requirements you will have to meet will be explained to you thoroughly before you begin. If you have any questions or concerns related to surrogacy in Colorado, please reach out to Adoption and Surrogacy Choices of Colorado.
If you are interested in learning more about your gestational surrogacy options, contact Adoption and Surrogacy Choices of Colorado by email, phone, or text: Email Us, Text us: 720-371-1099, Call us: 303-670-4673 (HOPE). If you are hoping to adopt, please contact us here.
Meet the author: Kyla’s life has been filled with adventure and transition – both good and difficult. She loves to take on challenges head-on and lead an organized and balanced life. She’s passionate about many different areas and loves how writing gives her the flexibility to engage in research of almost every field of study imaginable. She grew up very involved in theater and music and continues to use her free time to play the piano and sing. However, she is also very interested in how the natural world works and takes any chance she has to spend the day away from crowds, enveloped in the seclusion of nature. Growing up in the Philippines, she’s had some unique experiences that have shaped her worldview and given her a deeper understanding and appreciation for different cultures. She gets excited about research papers, completed to-do lists, and her morning coffee.
Stephanie joined the Adoption Choices family in 2014 as the Child Placement Supervisor. Her love for adoption began in first grade when she made friends with twins adopted from Vietnam. Her heart grew strong over the years for adopted children and ultimately led her to graduate school where she continued her focus to her dream of working in the adoption field. Stephanie earned a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Denver in 2001. Over the past 15 years, Stephanie has worked as a pregnancy counselor and as an adoptive parent counselor for foster care, international adoption and domestic adoption, writing hundreds of home studies for families, and helping build their forever families. Stephanie is married and has three boys ages 12, 9, and 5. Together with her family she enjoys riding bike, playing games, watching her three sons compete in their various sporting and musical activities and go on vacations.
Christy Ikeler, is our Executive Director and Birth Parent Director. Christy has been with Adoption Choices Team for 18 years, since opening the doors in 2002! Christy has a true passion for what she does and her true love is working with and helping each birth parent. Whether she is up all night on the phone talking with them, taking them to doctors appointments, out for their favorite treat, providing counseling or at the hospital during labor and delivery, Christy is very involved every step of the way. She has a contagious laugh and a spunky personality that our birth moms all can bond with and relate to. As an adoptive parent herself, adoption holds a very special place in her heart and she can relate on every level with both birth parents and adoptive parents. In her free time Christy loves spending time with her daughter, gardening, baking and taking vacations with her family. Christy is an excellent leader for our team at Adoption Choices and is truly one of a kind!! As Executive Director, Christy spends time with the staff, birth parents and adoptive families in order to ensure that the agency is running smoothly. She has placed a huge emphasis on community outreach and programs for birth parents. Christy loves the opportunity to lead the agency into a brighter future.
Ms. Mackenzie has built a successful counseling career over the past 20 years, supporting mothers and families, people of all ages and genders, students, community professionals and fellow clinicians. Liv values a diverse professional focus, including the entrepreneurial life of a sole proprietor, the evaluative process of certifying foster/adoptive homes, the insightful and mindful one-on-one one work with enthusiastic clients, and serving as an advocate for underserved populations. Liv is a Licensed Professional Counselor and holds a BA in Pre-Law and Economics from American University, an MA in Counseling from Adams University and a certificate in Human Resource Management from Villanova University. Away from work you will find Liv spending time in nature, biking to the farmer’s market and adventuring with her family.
Catherine A. Madsen, joined the Adoption Choices family as legal counsel in 2013. Catherine is responsible for providing legal guidance to the Agency, training and updating staff on developments in adoption law and legislation, and program development. Catherine
Virginia Frank is an adoption attorney accredited since 1991 with the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys. Ms. Frank is a leader in the field of private adoption and has completed over 4,000 adoptions in her career. Ms. Frank has a law degree from Oklahoma City University and a BA in both Political Science and Communications from the University of Oklahoma.
Cassidie has been with Adoption Choices since 2015, she has her bachelors in Interdisciplinary Affairs with concentrations in both Sociology and Business Management. Cassidie has additional training in Victim Advocacy, foster care and has been working in women’s services for over 10 years. Cassidie has always had a heart for adoption and it was her career dream to work in adoption. She started off doing volunteer work for advocacy programs, adoption organizations and worked in High Risk Maternal Fetal Medicine through the University of Colorado Hospital and Children’s Hospital of Colorado. Cassidie is also blessed to have personally experienced an adoption of her own in 2012, completing her family of five! Cassidie loves what she does as a case worker from initial phone calls, meetings, doctor appointments, interaction with the adoptive families to delivery and counseling. Cassidie has a passion for those in need and strives to help make a difference in the lives of the people she meets. She is a firm believer in being kind, compassionate and open minded in all situations. “Unless you’ve walked in their shoes, there’s no place for judgment. A kind word or compliment can go a long way!” The bittersweet moments in adoption reminds Cassidie each and every time, why she loves what she does!