Legality of Surrogacy in Maine
Maine has a detailed parentage law that governs gestational surrogacy arrangements. This makes Maine a great choice for gestational surrogacy. A distinctive feature of Maine’s law is that it also provides similar legal protections for traditional surrogacy involving family members. (Quick note: We can provide concierge services for these types of family arrangements but New England Surrogacy does not provide matches for traditional surrogacy).
We will walk you step-by-step through the Maine process, beginning with a mental health consultation with a social worker of your choice to allow you to discuss the issues unique to a gestational carrier pregnancy. Your surrogate will have the same opportunity.
Our Maine surrogates are pre-screened to make sure they meet the basic requirements of the law before acceptance into our program. The final step of the required screening process—the medical evaluation—will take place at your IVF clinic. The written contract must be put into place before any other medical procedures take place.
For this contract process, Maine requires two separate attorneys, with the surrogate’s own attorney paid for by the intended parents. The surrogate’s spouse, if she has one, must be included in this process. Maine law requires the contract to contain certain provisions, and your attorney will go over this in more detail with you. Once the contract is finalized, you will need to sign it before a notary public or other authorized official (this can be done in your home state or country).
The lawyers will attach a declaration page to the final contract, which can later be relied upon by the doctors and the birth hospital involved with your arrangement. This declaration page is also used to obtain a birth certificate listing you as the legal parents of your child. These parental right and responsibilities will be your immediately upon the birth of your child.
Maine’s court procedure generally takes place during the second trimester of pregnancy, when your lawyer will ask the court to issue a birth order. This birth order is legal confirmation that you are the child’s legal parents immediately upon birth. Your attorney can ask that these court records be “sealed” so that they remain private. And, following your child’s birth, you will receive a birth certificate listing your names only as the legal parents.