Egg Donor & Surrogacy Law Blog : Surrogacy and Egg Donation Lawyer & Attorney : Theresa Erickson : Erickson Law Firm : Practicing Reproductive and Gestational Carrier Law

Hello and TGIF!  Sorry I missed you last week, but I was away relaxing on vacation in Hawaii.  We have quite a few updates today, so please comment on those that are interesting or those that make you want to respond.  Happy Friday!

California/Texas - Court Tosses Claim by Children Born to a Surrogate - The District Court of Appeal yesterday threw out the claims of 15 year old twins born to a surrogate mother against the Texas estate of their biological father asserting breach of the surrogacy agreement due to the father's failure to support them as time barred.  The actual story sounds like a scene from the show "Dallas," so be sure to read the link above. 

Georgia - The new law allowing families to adopt embryos is now in effect in Georgia.  The law aims to prevent embryo donors from later asserting legal rights to children born from embryo adoption.  Personally, I think that this will make embryo donation more costly, but we shall see. 

Federal - A Federal Appeals Court has ruled that a woman cannot be fired for absenteeism related to fertility treatments.  The US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled that Title VII does prohibit an employer from doing so.  A trial is still pending so we will have to see what happens as this case progresses.

Federal - Congress is introducing a bi-partisan bill, entitled FACE Act (S. 1359), which intends to eliminate many of the hurdles internationally adopted children of American citizens currently face before they can come home to the US, which is often a lengthy and expensive process. 

UK - Chairman of British Fertility Society warns that IVF mix-ups "will continue."  In fact, he is not certain if the new systems being put into place will help, as human error is always a possibility.  He did not that the number of mix-ups were small; however, he needs to think more of those that it has affected versus the number.  Don't you think?

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TGIF to all once again.  We have quite a few updates on the legal front as far as IVF and the related technologies are concerned - again, I blame the entire Octo-Mom mess.  Regardless, some of the bills have a great purpose, so I am not going to complain.  Today we are starting in California and ending in Croatia, so enjoy the trip!

California - Assemblymember Marty Block of San Diego has proposed AB1317, which will require that all advertisements for egg donation include a warning informing patients that there are potential health risks involved and advises consulting with one's own physician.  Here is the current status of the bill for review on the California Legislative Website.

Oklahoma - The state enacts sex-selection, cloning bans.  The governor has signed into law banning sex selection abortions and human cloning.    The bills were signed in law May 21.

Georgia - Georgia will officially become the first state with an embryo adoption law when the law takes effect July 1, 2009.  The "Option of Adoption Act"  - "Embryo adoption allows the adopting mother to experience pregnancy and has been promoted by pro-lifers for years but, until now, has not been governed by the laws of any state. Significantly, the Georgia bill amends Georgia's adoption laws to make clear that embryo adoption in fact is a form of adoption. The law also allows adoptive parents to file in court for a final order of adoption (for the child who is born as the result of the embryo adoption), which supporters of the new law say clarifies that the adopting parents are eligible for claiming some but not all of their expenses for the federal adoption tax credit, which this year is more than $11,000.

Although embryo adoption tends to be cheaper than traditional adoption it nevertheless can still cost several thousands of dollars. "

Israel - Haredi widow to become a surrogate mother.  For the first time in Israel, an ultra-Othodox woman will serve as a surrogate mother, after receiving authorization to do so from a rabbi.  "the woman was concerned of her neighbors' reactions should she become pregnant, and asked the Institute of Fertility and Medicine According to Halacha to arrange a halachic approval from a rabbi explaining her condition and guaranteeing she was not "promiscuous."

Croatia - Croatia moves to adopt long awaited IVF law.  "According to the draft law to be forwarded to parliament within the next 10 days, infertility treatment would be allowed for married women only, a term that Milinovic labelled as "conservative."

At the same time, the legislation contains "liberal" provisions allowing egg and sperm donations, the minister added.

Under the new law, a child conceived by a donated egg or sperm would be able to obtain information about his or her biological parents once turning 18.

Such a provision was already condemned by local parents organisation RODA, which warned it could discourage potential donors.

Croatia's current law on medically assisted reproduction dates back to 1978, when the world's first "test-tube baby" was born. The former Yugoslav republic had its first IVF baby five years later.

A new bill had been in the offing since the late 1990s but never reached parliament.

Many believe this was due to strong opposition from the Roman Catholic Church which sparked a vivid public debate in 2005 when it condemned IVF as a "crime against human life."

Medical sources estimate between 2,000 and 3,000 Croatian women suffer from infertility and are potential candidates for IVF treatment."

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