{"id":1774,"date":"2022-02-24T07:23:49","date_gmt":"2022-02-24T07:23:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/expecting.ai\/blog\/?p=1774"},"modified":"2026-08-09T10:50:00","modified_gmt":"2026-08-09T10:50:00","slug":"legal-angle-to-surrogacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/expecting.ai\/blog\/parenting\/legal-angle-to-surrogacy\/","title":{"rendered":"The Legal Angle To Surrogacy: Intended Parents\u2019 Rights And The Ethical Aspect"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Editor’s note (August 2026):<\/strong> This is a historical interview originally published in 2022. Parentage law is state-specific and the interview should not be read as a current nationwide statement of U.S. law. Where the original discussion used broad language about terminating a carrier’s rights or courts automatically siding with intended parents, current readers should understand that the legal procedure depends on the jurisdiction and facts of the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We interviewed Victoria Gelfand<\/a> – a legal expert in the field of surrogacy law whose law firm also functions as a facilitator of surrogacy journeys – to discuss intended-parent rights after birth and ethical questions in surrogacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Tell me about the last step in the surrogacy journey – the birth. I know that intended parents’ worst nightmare is that their surrogate will change her mind or that something will go wrong during the birth. What should intended parents protect themselves from?<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were numerous cases where issues about parental rights came up. There is a legal process of parentage, when the court terminates the surrogate\u2019s parental rights and grants those parental rights and obligations to the intended parents. That should happen either during the pregnancy in the form of a pre-birth order, or it can happen after the birth with a post-birth order. It depends on the state, the system and the acceptable methodology, and it should be up to your legal advisor to come up with the solution that best fits your needs. Eventually, when you get to that process, you have the intervention of the court and the court will decide who will be the baby\u2019s parent or parents. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Editor’s clarification:<\/strong> The interview referenced an informal estimate of disputed-parentage cases, but we have removed that figure because it was not supported by a cited national dataset. Parentage disputes are uncommon in professionally managed gestational-surrogacy journeys, but their frequency cannot be reduced to one reliable nationwide number from this interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Editor’s clarification:<\/strong> Traditional and gestational surrogacy can involve different parentage issues, but no nationwide rule allows us to say that courts automatically side with intended parents in every gestational-surrogacy dispute. Genetic relationship is only one factor; statutes, contracts, marital status, consent requirements and the applicable state’s parentage law can all matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, it’s not always only about the final result, because no one wants to go through a legal trial. So the pre-screening, the proper management of the process, the contract, the separate legal representation for intended parents and surrogate – these are the things that will make a difference. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After going through the psychological process<\/a>, there is a professional reaffirmation that the surrogate understands and fully accepts that she only carries the pregnancy and will not parent the child. Actually, many surrogates are afraid that the intended parents will change their mind and won\u2019t come to pick up the baby. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n