They say “it takes a village to raise a child.” In the ever-proliferating world of third party reproduction through the use of assisted reproductive technologies (ART), it takes a village to make a child too. Third-party reproduction involves the use of ART techniques such as in vitro fertilization (IVF) or artificial insemination, an intended parent or parents, and either an egg donor, a sperm donor, or gestational carrier (surrogate) (or some combination of the three), whose relationship with the intended parents is ideally codified in an enforceable agreement. Such agreements are currently the subject of pending legislation in New York State, but are not yet recognized. Achieving parenthood by way of this process requires a unique confluence of collaborating parties and myriad professionals with expertise in a vast array of disciplines, all united by the common goals of producing a healthy child, while securing the legal parentage of that child for the intended parents.
As with any complex transaction, despite their common goals each of the third-party collaborating participants has coextensive individual interests, many of which inherently conflict with one another and/or require and deserve unique consideration so as to avoid an otherwise significant potential for litigation, particularly in the event of divorce. As New York inches closer to joining the ranks of those states that legitimize compensated surrogacy arrangements by means of the pending Child-Parent Security Act (S.2765, 2015-16 Reg. Sess. (N.Y. 2015); A.4319, 2015-16 Reg. Sess. (N.Y. 2015)), now is an apropos a time to discuss the dovetailing medical, legal and ethical issues, in conjunction with the vulnerabilities attendant to the team-based approach to achieving parenthood through ART.
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