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Any advice for legal/contracts?
I’m hoping the lawyers really steer this conversation, but I’m curious if anyone had any advice for the legal process? Anything you’re glad you had in writing before the journey? Any surprises?
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4 Replies
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Typically the lawyers have a template that they go off of and then tweak it to tailor your case. This is also really good to know because sometimes there’s stuff in contacts that goes against what you may have already discussed but this is usually because it was already in the template and can be changed. Your lawyer should be able to tell you what’s common, how people typically do things bad alternatives for anything you are unsure of.
Be sure to ask questions if you’re unsure of anything, I even asked to have the wording changed in some areas because I just found it confusing and wanted it to be very clear.
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@Kim sorry it took me so long to respond (even though I’m not a lawyer!) There was nothing that I was like, “omg – thank God we had that in our contract with our first surrogate, Jennifer!”, but I guess here are some things that I found useful to have?
1. Limit on lost wages? Especially if your surrogate is a higher earner.
2. Life insurance policy (through Art Risk)
3. I haven’t purchased this but Art Risk now offers a bed rest insurance! Which at some point thought would be really useful, but not sure if I will purchase? The bed rest insurance help protects IPs against lost wages in case the surrogate needs to be on bed rest for a large portion of the pregnancy!
4. Clauses about the surrogate’s leave after birth. It’s good to know whether her work will allow her paid time leave – and if not, how many weeks you’ll be responsible for. That was something I totally forgot about at first.
I think everything else is relatively standard! Open to chatting more – either here on the Forum or private message 😉
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Thanks MJ and Alycia! This is super helpful!
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Hi Kim! I’m an attorney practicing surrogacy and ART and also a mama via gestational surrogacy to a 2 year old 🙂 I can’t give specific legal advice, but I agree with MJ’s points. I would say just make it very very clear that you and/or your partner and your GC are on the same page with all of the big points before you even get to legal – termination, health and life insurance, lost wages, any specifics you want (eating organic is an example), etc. Those might be tough conversations but it’s better to handle them at the outset. Remember that your attorney works for you and even if they are using a form contract, tweaks and changes can be made for your best interest (same for your GC). I practice in Florida so if you have any Florida-specific questions, or need attorney recommendations wherever you’re located, I’m happy to help! Best of luck!!
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