If you are a transgender individual or a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, and you are considering expanding your family through surrogacy, you may not know where to start. The surrogacy process can be complicated and challenging. There is a significant amount of planning and coordination that goes into a successful surrogacy journey.
LGBTQIA+ Individuals and couples use the surrogacy process to have biological children. As you begin the process of learning more about surrogacy, it is important to have a supportive and knowledgeable team helping you through the process. The surrogacy process requires legal and medical expertise as well as strong emotional support through friends and family.
Should I Choose Surrogacy as a Trans Intended Parent?
One of the first steps in your journey is to decide whether you and/or your partner would like to become pregnant yourself with the help of assisted reproductive technology, such as IVF. Members of the non-binary and trans community may biologically be able to have a child, but it may not be the most suitable option.
It may also be a health risk for you or your partner to become pregnant. In other cases, pregnancy may not be an option for you or your partner at all. Attorney Vonda Covington understands the nuances that go into making such an important decision and will work to provide you with legal counsel in a safe and helpful environment throughout your surrogacy journey.
Working With a Surrogacy Agency
When transgender individuals pursue surrogacy, they often work with a surrogacy agency. Finding an agency with professional experience and in-depth knowledge about your state’s legal rules and requirements regarding surrogacy is important. They should also have significant experience supporting members of the LGBTQIA+ community.
Agencies can help respective parents match with egg donors and sperm donors. They can also manage all communication and payments and help organize and support parents when the birth occurs.
Protecting Your Legal Rights
Attorney Vonda Covington has an in-depth understanding of all of the surrogacy and reproductive laws in Texas that affect members of the LGBTQIA+ community. Even if you are working with surrogacy, it’s important to hire an attorney who can protect your rights and Ensure there are no red flags in any documents and contracts you are signing.
Surrogacy agencies can and do advocate for their clients, but they cannot Act as attorneys and provide legal guidance as an agency. Only a qualified attorney can represent your interests in court when necessary. Some surrogacy Agencies provide clients access to an attorney the surrogacy agency employs.
However, hiring an attorney outside of the agency can also be an important step to protect yourself. Should any conflicts arise with the agency, an outside attorney would be able to protect your interests. When you hire an independent attorney, they will be obligated to put your legal interests at the forefront and advise you with your rights and interests in mind.
Attorney Vonda Covington is passionate about protecting the rights of hopeful parents and helping them build a family while protecting their interests, rights, and assets. She has experience representing LGBTQIA+ singles and couples and will use that experience to protect and help you.
Texas’s Surrogacy Laws
There are many different legal issues involved with surrogacy, and it is important to understand them before you begin the process. For example, you must sign a surrogate or gestational agreement under Texas law.
According to Texas Family Code Sec. 160.752, a legal gestation agreement is “an agreement between a woman and the intended parents of a child in which the woman relinquishes all rights as a parent of a child conceived using assisted reproduction, and that provides that the intended parents become the parents of the child.”
A gestational mother is defined as a woman who gives birth to a child who was conceived as part of a gestational agreement. Under Texas law, gestational mothers do not have a biological or genetic relationship to the baby. Surrogate mothers in traditional surrogacy scenarios are usually the genetic mother of the baby. In that case, the parties involved would not necessarily be protected under Texas surrogacy and donation laws.
Although this definition may seem somewhat simple, drafting, negotiating, and agreeing to gestational agreements can be complex. When a gestational agreement is not thorough enough and does not include enough Provisions for contingencies, the results can be devastating for families.
Working with an attorney who can help you draft these highly complex documents can help you avoid potential pitfalls down the road. It is wise for everyone involved in the surrogacy process to work with an attorney before they sign such an important and consequential document. Surrogates, donors, and prospective parents should all hire an attorney to represent their unique interests as they move through the process.
For example, in Texas, there must be a medical necessity for surrogacy along with evidence to support the need for a person who wants to become a parent to use a surrogate’s services. Texas does not give same-sex couples and individuals the same legal protections to use gestational surrogacy as it does for heterosexual couples.
You do not want to make the mistake of trying to save money and downloading a surrogacy agreement from an internet-based company without the help of an attorney. Every state has its own laws related to surrogate births. A boilerplate form from the internet may not be considered legally valid and enforceable in Texas, where your surrogate baby will eventually be born. It is also important that you do not write your own agreement and sign it amongst yourselves.
Contact a Surrogacy Attorney for Trans Individuals Today
As a longtime LGBTQIA+ attorney ally, Vonda Covington has helped many trans couples and individuals realize their dreams of becoming parents. She’s also served as legal counsel for those who have been part of a surrogate pregnancy through egg, sperm, or embryo donation. Contact Covington Law Firm, PLLC, to schedule an initial consultation today.
