Surrogacy laws are not regulated in the United States. Therefore, each state determines its own stance when it comes to gestational surrogacy laws. Recently, New York changed their surrogacy laws, and now compensated surrogacy is legal in the Empire State. Understanding the surrogacy legal process is important for both intended parents and surrogates who plan to do surrogacy in New York.
New York Surrogacy Laws
Circle Surrogacy is excited to announce that we are fully licensed for surrogacy in the state of New York. While Circle Surrogacy already works with many intended parents from all parts of NY – from New York City to Westchester to Long Island – the passing of this law and our licensure allows intended parents to use their fertility clinics in New York, match with gestational carriers from New York, and the law will offer abundant protections for surrogates, and give intended parents a state-of-the-art law that supports all families that rely on medical advances to have children.
Is Surrogacy in New York Legal?
Yes! Circle has always had great success in helping New Yorkers become parents, and has a large parent community in New York City and surrounding towns. New York also has an active LGBTQ+ community, making NY a wonderful place to live if you are considering surrogacy to grow your family.
The New York Surrogacy Law – the Child Parent Security Act – has made commercial surrogacy legal in New York. Under this law, intended parents who use third party reproduction to conceive will have a secure legal relationship with their child from birth; a simpler process for securing parenthood for non-biological parents and ends legal uncertainty for single intended mothers who use a sperm donor. The Child Parent Security Act also protects women who are gestational carriers from the state of New York.
Surrogacy Contracts in New York
When entering into a surrogacy agreement in New York between intended parents and a gestational surrogate, a surrogacy lawyer (ART lawyer) will help you put a surrogacy agreement in place. The surrogacy agreement – also called a Carrier Agreement – will outline the surrogacy journey, expectations of each party, the risks and responsibilities of each party, surrogate pay and more. The surrogacy contract is critical in a surrogacy journey, therefore having knowledgeable surrogacy lawyers supporting and guiding you is important. At Circle Surrogacy, intended parents and their surrogate mother will work with independent legal counsel.
Determining Parentage in the State of New York
A pre-birth judgment of parentage can be obtained any time after the carrier agreement is executed by the parties pursuant to New York Family Court Act § 581-203. The judgment of parentage shall declare that intended parents are the only legal parents of the child and allow their names to appear on the child’s birth certificate following delivery.
In New York, all parties will have independent New York legal counsel representing them throughout your journey, which we will connect you to if you decide to match. Before the carrier agreement can be signed, we must have medical clearance.
Please note that the surrogate will fill out all documentation at the hospital, which is sealed by the Department of Health and then amended to reflect parents’ names. The birth certificate with your names may take approximately 6-9 months to receive post-delivery. You will have to request your child’s social security number separately, after you receive the birth certificate listing your names. As always, we recommend speaking in detail with your lawyer about your specific situation regarding parentage.
Finding a Surrogate in New York
When it comes time to match with a surrogate, it is one of the most exciting times of your journey. Intended parents living in New York have the opportunity to match with a gestational surrogate from the state of New York. Intended parents will work with their lawyers and surrogacy agency team – if they are using an agency – to find a surrogate that is a legal match. Other factors in finding the right surrogate match in New York are expectations in the surrogacy journey and personality fit.
Surrogacy is a wonderful and rewarding way to grow your family. Understanding surrogacy laws in New York – or whatever state you and your surrogate live in – is an important piece in the overall puzzle. Working with experienced surrogacy lawyers to understand not only the surrogacy laws, but the overall surrogacy process, can help give intended parents and surrogates peace of mind on their journeys.
If you’d like to learn more about becoming a parent, you can fill out our parent form to be connected to our experienced Parent Team.