Under subsection (b), a valid gestational agreement requires that the man and woman who are the intended parents, whether married or unmarried, to be parties to the gestational agreement. This reflects the Act's comprehensive concern for the best interest of nonmarital as well as marital children born as the result of a gestational agreement. Throughout UPA the goal is to treat marital and nonmarital children equally.

Subsection (c) provides that in order to be enforceable, the agreement must be validated by the appropriate court under § 803.

Subsection (e) is intended to shield gestational agreements that include payment of the gestational mother from challenge under "baby-selling" statutes that prohibit payment of money to the birth mother for her consent to an adoption.

Subsection (f) is intended to acknowledge that the gestational mother, as a pregnant woman, has a constitutionally-recognized right to decide issues regarding her prenatal care. In other words, the intended parents have no right to demand that the gestational mother undergo any particular medical regimen at their behest.

Maine Comment

Subsection 1, paragraph A requires that a gestational mother be at least twenty-one years of age to ensure that she has sufficient maturity to fully comprehend the consequences of what she is about to undertake.

Subsections 1 and 2 are made gender neutral and establish that the intended parent or parents, regardless of their gender, must be parties to the gestational agreement.

Subsection 5 is intended to allow both consideration and expenses that are currently payable to a consenting mother under adoption law.

§1972.__Requirements of petition