A surrogacy journey can be a lengthy process, with many unforeseen factors along the way. Before you select an agency, a surrogate, or an IVF clinic, find an excellent surrogacy lawyer to assist you. Your lawyer should offer legal advice and support, protect your interests, and help you have a more positive experience.
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How Long Has the Surrogacy Lawyer Been Practicing?
You need to know that you’re in good hands. You need a lawyer who has experience with surrogacy and the many legal issues associated with surrogacy arrangements. Ask how long the lawyer has been practicing this kind of law.
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What Difficult Cases Has the Lawyer Handled?
When you meet with a surrogacy lawyer, don’t be nervous about asking tough questions. Lawyers may not be able give you specifics about their cases, but they can give you a general idea of the difficulties that they have had to handle in their surrogacy cases.
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Does the Surrogacy Lawyer Own an Agency?
In some cases, the lawyer also has his or her own agency to match you with a surrogate. This situation may make you a bit leery, since you want to be sure that there is no conflict of interest and that the attorney will represent your interests and not the surrogate’s interests. Ask questions and ensure there are safeguards against such potential conflicts of interest. You may decide to use that attorney but a different agency, or you may use the lawyer’s agency but obtain your own separate attorney. Talk to friends, do some research, and then make a decision that you’re comfortable with.
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Can the Lawyer Recommend an Agency?
Often, an ART attorney has specific agencies with which he or she has worked in the past. During your first meeting with the lawyer, ask about any such recommendations.
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How Much Does the Surrogacy Lawyer Charge?
Remember, you’re looking for someone who can protect your interests. You need an attorney to help you review and draft important documents. You also want an attorney who can foresee legal issues and prevent them, or deal with them as they arise; and for all that, you have to pay a fee. As with many products and services in life, you get what you pay for, so don’t slip into the pitfall of looking for the cheapest fees. Select a lawyer with a stellar reputation and plenty of experience in ART law, with rates that are comparable and reasonable. Once you have a lawyer, you’re ready to take the next step in your journey.
About Attorney Nicole K. White
As a mother by gestational surrogacy and as a surrogacy lawyer, my goal is to help you experience the joy and fulfillment of starting or growing a family of your own through third party reproduction. Because I am a mother by gestational surrogacy, I know firsthand what you will need – answers to your questions, support and guidance – and, I know what you will go through when starting your family. My experience as a surrogacy lawyer helps me guide you through the financial, emotional and legal aspects of surrogacy and third party reproduction. I can say with confidence that few (if any) attorneys deliver the unique insight I can bring to your surrogacy journey.
The struggle to overcome fertility goes on, even if you have achieved your dream of having a baby. So, please forward this information to someone you know who is struggling to overcome fertility.
