surrogacy in your state

California is a fantastic place to experience surrogacy. Women can become a parent by going to a sperm bank and undergoing artificial insemination. Men use a surrogate, either through artificial insemination or through two women, one to donate an egg, and the other to serve as surrogate.

The American Surrogacy Center [TASC] provides a very positive analysis of legal surrogacy in West Virginia. TASC says:

"West Virginia is a surrogacy-friendly state. Some states have a great deal of law on the subject of surrogacy - either from state statutes or appellate court cases. Other states have no law, which leaves the question up in the air. West Virginia has only one sentence in its law which is incredibly significant."

The American Surrogacy Center says the District of Columbia is very unfriendly toward surrogacy.

According to The American Surrogacy Center, the law in Iowa has not addressed the surrogate arrangement.

Iowa Code 70.11, which makes it unlawful to sell or purchase another person, provides for an exception in the surrogate arrangement. This section indicates that the state has accepted the surrogate arrangement and that a surrogate contract is not against public policy.

The adoption conflict in Arkansas remains unsettled, and the fight will continue until progress is won. But there's another option for lesbian and gay men who want to become parents.

Maryland Court of Special Appeals has ruled that two unmarried individuals in a "stable" relationship may adopt a child. This decision paves the way for adoption of a child by the parent's partner. Also called second-parent adoption. Parameters of single-parent adoption are unknown at this time.

An important feature of Maryland law for artificial insemination surrogacy is found in its adoption law. A non-resident can file a petition for adoption in a Maryland court, if the birth mother (which would be the surrogate) resides in Maryland.

Illinois is one of the most progressive states for gays and lesbians to contract with gestational surrogates. Legislature dictates that when a child is born through gestational surrogacy, the intended parent(s) have sole custody and full parental rights immediately upon the child’s birth. This allows the intended parent(s) to circumvent the entire adoption process, and also prevents the surrogate carrier from asserting a legal claim to the baby.