Comment

(This is section 806 of the UPA.)

Source: USCACA § 7.

Subsection (a) permits a party to terminate a gestational agreement after the authorization order by canceling the arrangement before the pregnancy has been established. This provides for cancellation during a time when the interests of the parties would not be unduly prejudiced by termination. By definition, the procreation process has not begun. The intended parents certainly have an expectation interest during this time, but the nature of this interest is little different from that which they would have while they were attempting to create a pregnancy through traditional means. In contrast to the next subsection, termination of the agreement does not require "good cause."

Subsection (b) gives the court the right to cancel the agreement for cause, which is left undefined.

Under subsection (c) a party who wishes to terminate the agreement must inform the other parties in writing, and must also file notice with the court. The court must then vacate the order validating the agreement. An individual who does not notify the court of his/her termination of the agreement is subject to sanction.

USCACA § 7(b) specifically dealt with termination of a "surrogacy agreement" by a gestational mother who provided the egg for the assisted conception. This possibility is not repeated in the new UPA because there is only a remote likelihood that an agreement for the gestational mother to furnish the egg will be countenanced. Assisted reproduction, as generally conducted by medical facilities today, disapproves of that practice.

Subsection (d) provides that before pregnancy a gestational mother is not liable to the intended parents for terminating the agreement. Although the new Act does not explicitly provide for termination of the agreement after pregnancy. Several sections deal with this issue under certain described circumstances. Section 801(f) recognizes that the gestational mother has plenary power to decide issues of her health and the health of the fetus. Sections 803(a) and 807(a) direct that the intended parents are