On Thursday, January 23, 2014, Kansas Senator Mary Pilcher-Cook introduced a bill that if passed, would make surrogacy a crime. Anyone who played any part in a surrogate pregnancy would face up to a $10,000 fine or jail time. Here is my testimony to the Kansas legislature:
Dear Senator Pilcher-Cook,
I am a lawyer in the State of CT and I own and operate a surrogacy agency known as Worldwide Surrogacy Specialists, LLC. http://assistedreproductionlaw.com/
I have also argued and prevailed in a case before the CT Supreme Court entitled, Raftopol v. Ramey, wherein the CT Supreme Court held that valid gestational surrogacy agreements are enforceable and that parties to a valid surrogacy agreement may be declared the legal parents of the baby to be born to a gestational surrogate. There is a clear distinction between traditional surrogacy and gestational surrogacy, ie in CT the enforceable agreement must be one for gestational surrogacy such that the surrogate mother is not the genetic mother of the baby she carries.
There are many individuals who cannot carry their own pregnancy. Women who have had cancer or other illnesses; women who have physical disabilities, etc. For example, in our agency, we helped a physically handicapped woman become mother to her genetic twins. The surrogate mother was compensated generously, she was respected and appreciated and cared for and she received excellent medical care from physicians of her choosing. It was an amazing experience for all involved. In fact, I, as the lawyer and surrogacy coordinator, visited everyone at the hospital when the twins were born. This is how surrogacy can and should be done. With the right team of professionals, with everyone treating one another with respect and dignity, there is no reason why compensated surrogacy should be banned or made illegal. That would be a regression. And especially in light of the major advances in medical technology, to ban gestational surrogacy would be going in the wrong direction.
Thank you for the opportunity to present this testimony on this most important issue of social well-being and medical advancements.
Dear Senator Pilcher-Cook,
I am a lawyer in the State of CT and I own and operate a surrogacy agency known as Worldwide Surrogacy Specialists, LLC. http://assistedreproductionlaw.com/
I have also argued and prevailed in a case before the CT Supreme Court entitled, Raftopol v. Ramey, wherein the CT Supreme Court held that valid gestational surrogacy agreements are enforceable and that parties to a valid surrogacy agreement may be declared the legal parents of the baby to be born to a gestational surrogate. There is a clear distinction between traditional surrogacy and gestational surrogacy, ie in CT the enforceable agreement must be one for gestational surrogacy such that the surrogate mother is not the genetic mother of the baby she carries.
There are many individuals who cannot carry their own pregnancy. Women who have had cancer or other illnesses; women who have physical disabilities, etc. For example, in our agency, we helped a physically handicapped woman become mother to her genetic twins. The surrogate mother was compensated generously, she was respected and appreciated and cared for and she received excellent medical care from physicians of her choosing. It was an amazing experience for all involved. In fact, I, as the lawyer and surrogacy coordinator, visited everyone at the hospital when the twins were born. This is how surrogacy can and should be done. With the right team of professionals, with everyone treating one another with respect and dignity, there is no reason why compensated surrogacy should be banned or made illegal. That would be a regression. And especially in light of the major advances in medical technology, to ban gestational surrogacy would be going in the wrong direction.
Thank you for the opportunity to present this testimony on this most important issue of social well-being and medical advancements.
