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International Intended Parents: Getting Home with Your Baby During COVID-19

Join assisted reproductive technology attorneys Rich Vaughn and Molly O’Brien of International Fertility Law Group as they share information and advice for international intended parents planning to travel for the births of their babies via surrogacy in the United States during the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic.

Getting your baby home. With many government offices shuttered during the COVID-19 outbreak, obtaining your baby’s birth certificate may take longer than normal. Passports applications have been delayed even more: before the COVID-19 outbreak, the turnaround time for an expedited passport was a couple of days to a week; currently the turnaround is six to eight weeks without emergency justification. In some cases, it may be easier to obtain a passport or a “laissez passer” from the home country rather than from the U.S. As always, it is important that IPs consult closely with their local attorneys for advice on the safest, most expeditious way to obtain travel documents.

For intended parents, surrogates, donors and reproductive health professionals the COVID-19 pandemic has created a host of obstacles and complications that make the challenging road to parenthood via ART even more challenging. We hope you will take comfort in the knowledge that the virus has brought surrogacy professionals in the United States together as never before. You are not alone. We all are working together as a community, sharing answers, sharing resources, and sharing support.

For more from Molly and Rich for intended parents planning travel to the U.S. for your baby’s birth, see our video on getting here during COVID-19.

For more information and resources for intended parents, surrogates donors and 3rd-party matching programs coping during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, visit our multi-media library of COVID-19 information.

Find a transcript of the complete video presentation here.

 

 

Rich Vaughn & Molly O'Brien

RICH VAUGHN, ESQ.: Attorney Rich Vaughn combined his personal passion as a father of twin boys born via assisted reproductive technology (ART) with more than 20 years of experience in business and technology law to build International Fertility Law Group. Today IFLG is one of the most successful and best-known law firms in the world focused exclusively on fertility law, helping thousands of intended parents through empathetic listening, thoughtful and compassionate guidance, and unmatched expertise. As an advocate for reproductive freedom, Rich contributes his knowledge and time to improving the understanding and practice of ART law around the world. MOLLY O'BRIEN, ESQ.: Molly O'Brien has worked in the field of assisted reproduction since 2005. In that time, she worked for an egg donation agency and a surrogacy agency, where she became familiar with all aspects of in vitro fertilization and egg donation, including the financial aspects of surrogacy. Since becoming an attorney in 2011, she has gained extensive experience in drafting and negotiating surrogacy, egg donation, sperm donation and embryo donation contracts on behalf of her clients throughout the world.