27 Mar 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic Forces Intended Parents to Delay Surrogacy
Yesterday I participated in the second weekly national webinar for surrogacy professionals, convened by the American Bar Association and SEEDS (Society for Ethics in Egg Donation and Surrogacy). The webinars have been a great forum for fertility lawyers, reproductive healthcare providers, surrogacy and donor agencies and non-profit advocacy organizations from all over the U.S. to share information about current conditions and issues of concern to our clients and stakeholders.
In my field of fertility law, the immense uncertainty about the potential duration and severity of the crisis is raising questions about whether intended parents, donors and surrogates should push pause on unfinished contracts and about how clinic closures and delayed procedures will affect screening requirements or financial obligations under existing contracts.
My best advice for attorneys is to not panic but also not to push forward, particularly with commitments that will cost your clients money, until we know more about what to expect—hard advice to hear for intended parents and committed donors and surrogates whose plans are suddenly on hold for the foreseeable future. For more information about guardianship arrangements, advice on obtaining travel documents and changing hospital visitation and birth policies, listen to the webinar above or tune into it HERE.
Find more information about the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on families, donors and surrogates HERE.
