Louisiana has some of the most restrictive surrogacy laws in the country, making the legal process especially complex and not something you should navigate on your own.
In this guide, we will explore the essential elements of Louisiana gestational carrier agreements, the strict requirements for legal recognition, and why working with an experienced surrogacy agency and attorney is non-negotiable for everyone involved.
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Why Louisiana Families Choose Our Out-of-State Matching Process
The Louisiana Surrogacy Bill HB 1102 took effect on August 1, 2016, prohibiting commercial surrogacy. Since surrogacy is highly restricted within Louisiana’s borders, many hopeful parents wonder if their dream is still possible. The answer is yes. Surrogacy is still an option as long as intended parents work with a surrogate living in a surrogacy friendly state.
Our specialized matching process is designed to bridge the gap between Louisiana’s strict laws and the supportive legal environments found elsewhere. By matching you with a surrogate in a state where compensated surrogacy is legal and protected, we ensure:
- Legal Recognition: Your legal parental rights are established in the surrogate’s state, where the laws are clear and inclusive.
- Fair Compensation: Surrogates are fairly rewarded for their time and effort, as permitted by their home state's laws, removing the legal risks associated with Louisiana’s ban on commercial surrogacy.
- Secure Contracts: Your GCA is drafted according to the laws of the surrogate’s state, ensuring it is fully enforceable and provides the necessary safety nets for both parties.
This approach allows intended parents to benefit from Louisiana’s residency while accessing a more favorable legal framework for everyone involved.
What Should Be Included in a Surrogacy Contract?
A surrogacy contract, also known as a gestational carrier agreement (GCA), is a detailed document that outlines the rights and responsibilities of both the intended parents and the surrogate. This agreement serves as a roadmap for the relationship and ensures everyone’s needs are met throughout the pregnancy. It generally includes:
The contract specifies how pregnancy-related expenses are covered, ensuring surrogates never face financial strain and intended parents understand their financial obligations. It defines how medical decisions are made, prioritizing the surrogate’s health while involving intended parents in key milestones. To protect the health of the pregnancy, the contract may include mutually agreed-upon guidelines regarding travel, diet, and daily activities. This section details who will be present in the delivery room and how the birth process will be managed to ensure a comfortable experience for everyone. While difficult to discuss, these clauses outline the path forward in the event of medical complications, ensuring both parties have a clear understanding of the process.
By including these details, the contract ensures no one is left guessing about their role during this life-changing journey.
Louisiana Legal Clearance: The Step-by-Step Road to Transfer
Before a fertility clinic can move forward with an embryo transfer, both parties must receive "legal clearance." This is the formal signal that the contractual phase is complete and all legal protections are in place for both the intended parents and the surrogate. The process is collaborative and typically follows these steps:
- Drafting the Initial Agreement: Your legal journey begins when the intended parents’ attorney creates the first draft of the gestational carrier agreement. This draft outlines the fundamental expectations and protections for both parties.
- Independent Legal Review: The surrogate takes this draft to her own independent attorney. This step is vital to ensure her rights, health, and interests are fully represented and that she understands every clause in the agreement.
- Negotiation and Alignment: The two attorneys work together to refine the contract based on feedback from both the parents and the surrogate. This stage ensures that everyone is in total agreement on sensitive topics like reimbursements and medical decisions.
- Signing and Notarization: Once the final version is approved, both parties sign the contract. These signatures must be notarized to establish the document as a formal, binding agreement.
- Issuance of the Clearance Letter: Finally, the attorneys issue an official "letter of legal clearance" to the fertility clinic. This document serves as the green light for the medical team to begin the embryo transfer process.
This process typically takes several weeks and ensures that everyone's intent is clearly documented before the medical phase begins.
Can Surrogacy Contracts Be Enforced in Louisiana?
Surrogacy contracts in Louisiana are only enforceable if:
- The intended parents are a married heterosexual couple
- They use their own gametes
- The surrogate meets all the legal criteria
For everyone else, including LGBTQ+ couples, contracts are void and unenforceable. This means surrogates residing in Louisiana cannot receive base compensation or any payment beyond the reimbursement of actual, pregnancy-related expenses.
However, intended parents can still be matched with a surrogate in a surrogacy-friendly state, allowing the process to move forward in compliance with applicable laws while ensuring surrogates are compensated fairly.
Since individuals involved in a surrogacy arrangement not sanctioned by Louisiana law may face penalties, it is essential to consult with a qualified attorney to understand how surrogacy laws and contracts apply to your specific journey.
What Happens if a Surrogacy Contract is Breached?
While rare in agency-supported journeys, a breach occurs if either party fails to uphold the agreed-upon terms of the GCA. To protect the interests of both the intended parents and the surrogate, the contract establishes a clear framework for resolving these issues:
- Enforcement of Financial Obligations: If reimbursements or payments are delayed, the contract provides mechanisms to ensure the surrogate is made whole and that financial terms are strictly followed.
- Legal Remedies for Violations: The agreement outlines specific consequences for willful violations of essential terms, such as travel restrictions or lifestyle guidelines, ensuring accountability for both sides.
- Mediation and Conflict Resolution: Most contracts mandate a mediation process. This allows both parties to work with a neutral third professional to resolve disputes privately and efficiently, avoiding the emotional and financial strain of open-court litigation.
- Protection of Parental Intent: In the event of a dispute, courts often look to the original intent of the contract to ensure that the intended parents' rights are upheld and the child’s best interests are prioritized.
Fair Surrogacy Compensation in Louisiana and Payment Structure
While Louisiana prohibits commercial surrogacy, surrogates working with our Louisiana intended parents are still eligible for fair compensation under their home surrogacy-friendly state's laws.
To safeguard the journey for everyone, we require intended parents to fund all estimated surrogacy costs upfront. These funds are held in a secure account and managed through a dual-layered oversight process, where payments are issued either directly by American Surrogacy or through a professionally managed independent escrow account.
This rigorous system ensures the surrogate is always paid on time while providing intended parents with an audited, clear record of every dollar spent. A typical structure includes:
Direct payment of all pregnancy-related medical expenses. A monthly allowance for local travel and prenatal needs. Reimbursement for specific items like maternity clothing or lost wages due to prescribed bed rest.
Medical Decisions and Control During Pregnancy
Your contract will clearly define medical records access and the medication approval process. Generally, the surrogate has the right to choose her own OB-GYN, provided the doctor is within a reasonable distance and accepts the insurance plan.
The contract balances these interests by requiring the surrogate to follow the medical advice of the clinic and her doctor. This collaborative approach ensures the best possible outcome for the baby while respecting the surrogate's health and comfort.
Termination and Selective Reduction Clauses
When working with American Surrogacy, the specific details regarding termination and selective reduction will depend on the laws of the state where your surrogate lives. Since we match Louisiana intended parents with surrogates in surrogacy-friendly states, your contract will reflect the legal landscape and medical standards of that specific location.
These clauses address critical scenarios, such as medical abnormalities or risks to the surrogate’s health. Your attorney will ensure these provisions are clear, legally enforceable, and aligned with your shared values. These sensitive conversations are handled with extreme empathy during the negotiation stage to ensure everyone is on the same page.
Lifestyle Clauses: Travel, Diet, and Daily Life
To protect the pregnancy, surrogacy contracts include lifestyle and travel guidelines that both parties agree to. These are not meant to be intrusive; rather, they are a shared commitment to a healthy pregnancy. Common clauses include:
- Travel Guidelines: Limiting travel to high-risk areas or restricting long-distance travel late in the third trimester.
- Diet and Wellness: Agreeing to follow standard prenatal health guidelines, such as nutrition and avoiding high-impact activities.
- Substance Prohibitions: Strictly prohibiting the use of tobacco, alcohol, or non-approved medications to protect the surrogate and the baby.
These terms are negotiated early on so that the surrogate feels supported and the intended parents feel confident in the care being provided.
Delivery Plans and Post-Birth Expectations
The labor and delivery portion of your contract is the culmination of all your planning and hope. This section ensures the birth experience is as seamless and organized as possible by setting clear boundaries and support systems in advance.
By outlining birth expectations now, you can focus on the arrival of the baby while ensuring everyone's needs are respected. Your agreement will detail several key hospital and postpartum arrangements:
- Delivery Room Presence: You will decide in advance who will be present during the birth, balancing the surrogate’s comfort with the intended parents’ desire to witness the milestone.
- Hospital Stay Logistics: The contract describes how the stay will be managed, often including provisions for separate recovery rooms so the surrogate can rest while the intended parents begin bonding with their baby.
- Postpartum Recovery Support: To ensure the surrogate has time to heal, the contract includes reimbursements for lost wages, childcare assistance, or household help if her medical recovery requires extra support.
- Pumping and Breast Milk Agreement: If both parties agree, a pumping plan can be established. This includes the logistics for storing and shipping milk, along with reimbursements for the surrogate's time and effort.
Insurance Requirements for Surrogacy Journeys
To ensure the physical well-being of the surrogate and the financial security of the intended parents, your contract will mandate several critical insurance coverages. Medical costs during pregnancy can be unpredictable, these provisions act as a comprehensive safety net for everyone involved in an interstate journey.
Comprehensive Health Insurance Review
We facilitate a professional audit of the surrogate’s current health plan to search for any exclusions that might affect coverage for a surrogacy pregnancy. If her policy does not cover these costs, we assist the intended parents in obtaining surrogate-friendly insurance or specialized policies to manage all prenatal and hospital expenses.
Mandatory Life Insurance
To protect the surrogate's own family, the contract requires intended parents to fund a life insurance policy for her. She chooses her own beneficiaries, providing her loved ones with financial security throughout the process.
Disability Protections
The agreement includes provisions for disability coverage to safeguard the surrogate against lost income. This coverage is essential if a physician orders bed rest or if she experiences complications that temporarily prevent her from working, ensuring her financial stability is never compromised.
Agency vs. Independent Surrogacy: Legal and Emotional Considerations
While some people consider an independent journey to save on costs, the legal and emotional risks are significantly higher, especially for surrogates in restrictive states. An independent surrogacy contract lacks the professional screening, mediation, and escrow management that an agency provides.
When you work with American Surrogacy, you gain access to a dedicated support system that protects both intended parents and surrogates:
- Rigorous Pre-Screening: We ensure that both parties are physically, emotionally, and financially prepared for the journey. Our vetting process is designed to minimize medical and legal risks, fostering a high level of trust from the very first match.
- Louisiana-Specific Legal Coordination: Navigating Louisiana’s narrow surrogacy statutes requires expert precision. We connect you with specialized attorneys who understand how to structure your agreement to ensure maximum enforceability while managing the complexities of an interstate journey.
- Comprehensive Case Management: From managing the logistics of out-of-state medical appointments to overseeing secure escrow accounts, we handle the details so you can focus on building a strong relationship and preparing for the birth.
- Ongoing Advocacy and Support: Our specialists serve as a neutral point of contact, offering mediation and emotional guidance throughout the pregnancy. We ensure that both the surrogate’s autonomy and the intended parents’ goals are continuously respected and supported.
Protect Your Surrogacy Journey in Louisiana From the Start
Navigating the nuances of Louisiana law and out-of-state surrogacy requires precision and expertise. At American Surrogacy, we are dedicated to providing the protection and peace of mind both intended parents and surrogates deserve.
Whether you are dreaming of your first child or ready to change a family's life, we are here to guide you through every clause of your agreement.
You shouldn't have to navigate Louisiana surrogacy laws alone. Your path to parenthood can still continue across state lines—speak with a specialist today to get answers about your surrogacy contract and start your journey with confidence.