2.__Requirements.__A proceeding to validate a gestational agreement may not be maintained unless:

A.__The gestational mother or the intended parent or parents have been residents of this State for at least 90 days;

B.__The prospective gestational mother's husband, if she is married, is joined in the proceeding; and

C.__A copy of the gestational agreement is attached to the petition.

Comment

(This is section 802 of the UPA.)

Source: USCACA § 6(a).

Sections 802 and 803, the core sections of this article, provide for state involvement, through judicial oversight, of the gestational agreement before, during, and after the assisted reproduction process. The purpose of early involvement is to ensure that the parties are appropriate for a gestational agreement, that they understand the consequences of what they are about to do, and that the best interests of a child born of the gestational agreement are considered before the arrangement is validated. The trigger for state involvement is a petition brought by all the parties to the arrangement requesting a judicial order authorizing the assisted reproduction contemplated by their agreement. The agreement itself must be submitted to the court.

To discourage forum shopping, subsection (b)(1) requires that the petition may be filed only in a state in which the intended parents or the gestational mother have been residents for at least ninety days.

Maine Comment

Exclusive jurisdiction over gestational agreements is given to the District Courts.

§1973.__Hearing to validate gestational agreement