Ethically Drafting Surrogacy Contracts

Drafting surrogacy contracts in the area of assisted reproductive technology (ART) raises extremely complex and sensitive issues of attorney ethics. As in every contract, the parties are best served by putting as much in writing as possible, but the surrogacy arrangement by nature includes decisions that can be emotionally fraught. Questions of payment, abortion and selective reduction, personal jurisdiction, effective representation, and worst of all, what happens if something goes wrong during the pregnancy, are complex. Attorneys representing the parties to a surrogacy agreement must be competent, extremely diligent, and fully aware of potential ethical conflicts. 

In this program, Colleen Quinn guides attorneys through the most important and ethical considerations surrounding surrogacy contract drafting. First, Ms. Quinn reviews the due diligence attorneys must do when considering the representation and the importance of ensuring competent and separate legal representation. Next, she addresses the key areas in contract drafting that raise ethical issues, including the provisions attorneys must include in avoiding malpractice. Throughout the program, she discusses the most common ethical pitfalls attorneys will encounter when representing parties to a surrogacy agreement, and how to avoid them. 

Both new and seasoned practitioners in the field will benefit from this thorough examination of the ethical approach to surrogacy contract drafting.

Learning Objectives:

1. Ensure competent independent legal representation in the drafting or review of surrogacy agreements

2. Do the due diligence essential to ensure all prerequisites are completed prior to contract drafting 

3. Ethically represent clients in mapping out the choice of law and parentage processes

4. Identify the most essential contract provisions to avoid malpractice

5. Ensure payment provisions are in line with the law of the contract

6. Ethically draft around complex issues such as breach provisions and abortion and selective reduction