Whose Name Goes On The Birth Certificate In Surrogacy?

1. 🩺 Features of the surrogacy contract
2. 🤰 Prenatal order
3. ⭐ Whose names are indicated on the birth certificate?

Experienced lawyers at Feskov Human Reproductive Group, within surrogacy programs will take all necessary steps to ensure that the names of the intended parents appear on all documents for the child according to the laws of Ukraine, USA, Canada or any other country.

Features of the surrogacy contract

A special agreement, which is concluded between all parties to the process, regardless of the country, clinic, reproduction center or surrogacy agency, stipulates all the details of the action:

• a detailed plan for surrogacy;
• responsibilities and rights of the surrogate and intended parents;
• emergency measures in case of force majeure with a surrogate mother;
• special actions for complications with pregnancy;
• how the surrogate will receive compensation and its amount;
• type of surrogacy and more.

In addition, it will be mandatorily indicated in the contract whose names will be included in the Certificate of the childbirth.

In this way, both the intended parents and the surrogate mother are protected in the event of any emergency. And also, if any questions regarding the process as a whole arise after the surrogate journey has already begun.

Prenatal order

When a child is born in the United States, he automatically becomes a citizen of the country and is eligible for a government-issued birth certificate. This applies to the birth of a baby by both a biological and a surrogate mother which is indicated in the Civil Registry Office.

But from now on, the details may vary. While the US National Center for Health Statistics has standard recommended forms for registering births, different states can create their own forms which may look different, have different content and different requirements.

These state-to-state discrepancies mean how important it is for intended parents to know the laws of the territory where the baby will be born. Typically, the Certificate forms are completed by the person who took part in the birth or by the hospital administrator. Then the papers are sent to the state registrar. In the case of surrogacy, these forms may need to be adjusted so that they legally reflect the names of the parents and not the surrogate mother.

For example, as an option, you can issue a prenatal order (prescription, agreement). It is a contract that designates the intended parents as the legal parents of a child born as a result of surrogacy, based on a general surrogate contract between all participants in the action. The document is signed at 6-7 months of pregnancy of the surrogate. And it does not take effect until the baby's birthday.

However, not all states recognize prenatal orders. Therefore, prospective parents need to work with the agency's or clinic's lawyers to clarify the situation in this case. Sometimes it is necessary to develop a special adoption program that will allow the names of the intended parents to be recorded on the birth certificate.

A prenatal order may direct the hospital to hand the baby over to the parents upon discharge, or order government agencies to include the names of the real parents on the birth certificate.

In some states, a postpartum order is used instead of a prenatal order, which grants parents legal paternity. The vital statistics office may need reliable data. This means that the name of the surrogate will be initially mentioned in the documents. The postpartum order will change this to reflect proper parenthood.

Whose names are indicated on the birth certificate?

The names that appear on an infant's birth certificate will mainly depend on the laws in force in each state. Many jurisdictions that favor surrogacy allow intended parents to submit a prenatal order in which the hospital is instructed to add their names to the original birth certificate.

In other cases, it may need to be reissued with the names of the real parents, as additional legal work will be carried out after the birth of the child. This is a postpartum order option. In some states, single fathers or same-sex couples will be required to complete the process of adopting a child by a second family member. As a result, both parents will be included in the documents.

In traditional surrogacy (when the egg belongs to the surrogate), the surrogate mother is the biological mother of the child. And her name will appear on the original birth certificate, along with the name of the alleged father. Adoption may also be required to enroll in the other parent's document.

Thanks to loyal Ukrainian legislation, after the birth of a child, the names of the parents are immediately included in the Birth Certificate. And for other states, specialists at Feskov Human Reproductive Group, according to implemented reproductive services, are preparing special programs that allow you to legally enter the names of parents in official documents. We select the most optimal and working options on an individual basis to guarantee the paperwork is properly executed in each specific case.

Authors, contributors:

Anna Salnikova
Lawyer on Reproductive Rights and Policies in the Reproductive Area

published: 22 April 2021
updated   : 03 March 2023

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