Comment

(This is section 707 of the UPA.)

Source: USCACA (1988) § 4

Absent consent in a record, the death of an individual whose genetic material is subsequently used either in conceiving an embryo or in implanting an already existing embryo into a womb ends the potential legal parenthood of the deceased. This section is designed primarily to avoid the problems of intestate succession which could arise if the posthumous use of a person's genetic material leads to the deceased being determined to be a parent. Of course, an individual who wants to explicitly provide for such children in his or her will may do so.

Maine Comment

This section has replaced "individual" for "spouse" to correct a clerical drafting mistake. The intent of the UPA is to treat a child of unmarried parents equally with a child of married parents.

SUBCHAPTER 8

GESTATIONAL AGREEMENT

Comment

The longstanding shortage of adoptable children in this country has led many would-be parents to enlist a gestational mother (previously referred to as a "surrogate mother") to bear a child for them. As contrasted with the assisted reproduction regulated by Article 7, which involves the would-be parent or parents and most commonly one and sometimes two anonymous donors, the gestational agreement (previously known as a surrogacy agreement) provided in this article is designed to involve at least three parties; the intended mother and father and the woman who agrees to bear a child for them through the use of assisted reproduction (the gestational mother). Additional people may be involved. For example, if the proposed gestational mother is married, her husband, if any, must be included in the agreement to dispense with his presumptive paternity of a child born to his wife. Further, an egg donor or a sperm donor, or both, may be involved, although neither will be joined as a party to the agreement. Thus, by definition, a child born pursuant to a