Source: USCACA § 6(b).

This pre-conception authorization process for a gestational agreement is roughly analogous to prevailing adoption procedures in place in most states. Just as adoption contemplates the transfer of parentage of a child from the birth parents to the adoptive parents, a gestational agreement involves the transfer from the gestational mother to the intended parents. The Act is designed to protect the interests of the child to be born under the gestational agreement as well as the interests of the gestational mother and the intended parents.

In contrast to USCACA (1988) § 1(3), there is no requirement that at least one of the intended parents be genetically related to the child born of a gestational agreement. Similarly, the likelihood that the gestational mother will also be the genetic mother is not directly addressed in the new Act, while USCACA (1988) apparently assumed that such a fact pattern would be typical. Experience with the intractable problems caused by such a combination has dissuaded the majority of fertility laboratories from following that practice. See In re Matter of Baby M., 537 A.2d 1227 (N.J. 1988).

This section seeks to protect the interests of the child in several ways. The major protection of the child is the authorization procedure itself. The Act requires closely supervised gestational arrangements to ensure the security and well being of the child. Once a petition has been filed, subsection (a) permits--but does not require--the court to validate a gestational agreement. If it validates, the court must declare that the intended parents will be the parents of any child born pursuant to, and during the term of, the agreement.

Subsection (b) requires the court to make five separate findings before validating the agreement. Subsection (b)(1) requires the court to ensure that the 90-day residency requirement of § 802 has been satisfied and that it has jurisdiction over the parties;

Under subsection(b)(2), the court will be informed of the results of a home study of the intended parents who must satisfy the suitability standards required of prospective adoptive parents.

The interests of all the parties are protected by subsection (b)(3), which is designed to protect the individuals involved from the possibility of overreaching or fraud. The court must