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

By Patrick George
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Tuesday, April 15, 2008

The Texas attorney general's office has filed a lawsuit accusing an Austin company of selling fraudulent discount health card plans to pregnant women, the office announced Monday.

The lawsuit claims that Austin-based AHCO Direct, also known as Affordable HealthCare Options, and its owners, Brian McDonald and Aaron Bouren, sold fake discount cards to uninsured pregnant women that promised to cover up to 60 percent of maternity-related costs.

The two are accused of multiple violations of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, Abbott said in a statement.

The cards were marketed to uninsured pregnant women via Google ads, the lawsuit said.

See remainder of article here: http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/04/15/0415aghealth.html

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Well, I have to say that I am quite surprised by the statistics that were set forth in Newsweek's article, "Womb for Rent." 

See link at http://www.newsweek.com/id/129594

To be quite honest, I did speak with the reporter, Lorraine Ali, and I assured her that the statistics she had that claimed military surrogates were 50% of all surrogates was way off base.  In fact, I had confirmed that with my colleagues, and they agreed.  I am certain that their reason for pushing those numbers was to incite a frenzy about military insurance. 

Well, as a former military dependent, I know for a fact that military insurance is not a privilege that is being abused in any way.  In fact, military members "pay" for this insurance by receiving lower compensation and benefits than their civilian counterparts.  I even pulled out a Department of Defense yearly update that my husband had received back in 2001, and it clearly stated the value of the insurance that we received.  Specifically, it provided that his salary was actually $1850.00 more per year due to the value of our insurance, which he essentially paid for.  

So, I wonder where this will all go?  What do you think?  I was quite dissatisfied with this article.   

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This information is always helpful when clients are trying to weigh adoption vs. surrogacy.  I hope that you find this helpful:

How much did adoptions cost in 2006 and 2007? More than 1,500 AF readers completed our survey on the cost of adoption—thanks to everyone for their valuable input!

Here's a breakdown of the total cost of adoption:

http://www.adoptivefamilies.com/articles.php?aid=1685

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I just saw a great blog post that I would like to share:

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Jessica O'Donnell allegedly posed as a war widow, saying her husband had been killed in Iraq, WYFF-TV in Greenwood, S.C., reported. Investigators say she offered to bear children for couples, telling them she wanted to help because of her personal tragedy.

http://www.wyff4.com/news/14843559/detail.html?rss=gs&psp=news

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A New York gay lawyer who made an agreement with his niece that she would bear a child for him through gestational surrogacy won a ruling from Minnesota's Court of Appeals on December 11, approving custody and full parental rights.

Remainder of Article as follows:

http://www.gaycitynews.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19133589&BRD=2729&PAG=461&dept_id=568860&rfi=6

Legal opinion is as follows:

http://www.lawlibrary.state.mn.us/archive/ctapun/0712/opa070452-1211.htm

Congrats to my friend and fellow counsel, Steve Snyder, on this big win!

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HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A surrogate mother can keep $48,000 in child support from the biological father, even though she later lost custody of the triplets to him, a state court ruled.

The state Superior Court ruled Thursday that Danielle Bimber does not have to repay James Flynn of Kirtland, Ohio, who had given her the money before the same appeals court granted him custody in April 2006.

The children were born in Erie more than four years ago, conceived with donor eggs fertilized by Flynn’s sperm and placed in Bimber’s uterus.

Remainder of Article: http://www.lancastereaglegazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080105/UPDATES01/80105005/-1/rssupdates

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This case has been around in two different court systems involving an Ohio man wanted to be a parent. He used an egg donor from Texas, and the eggs were fertilized with his sperm and the resulting embryo was implanted in a woman from Pennsylvania. She gave birth to triplets. The deal fell apart when the woman who gave birth took the triplets home. Litigation ensued in both Pennsylvania and Ohio followed.

In December the Ohio Supreme Court issued an opinion you can find as follows: http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/rod/newpdf/0/2007/2007-ohio-6750.pdf

It is a short opinion, both majority and dissent. The majority states that there isn’t any Ohio policy  about gestational surrogacy and so there’s no reason not to enforce the contract. They go as far as allowing consideration of an award of damages against the surrogate for breaching her obligations. 

Here are some other opinions on the matter: http://lexfamilia.wordpress.com/feed/

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The following article speaks about the recent media attention to gestational carriers in India.  I have not done enough research on the establishments in India; however, I do think that the laws in some US States are straightforward enough to keep people from venturing there.  Price is certainly an issue, as the carriers in India are not requesting as much as carriers do here in the US - however, I would need to view their medical facilities, the health of the carriers, as well as determine the laws that exist there, if any.  Regardless, this article is certainly food for thought.

See link:

http://warner.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/india/

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