Legal Issues about Delivery for Gay Fathers in Texas

Many Intended Fathers who are matched in Texas through our agency have come across the story below and become worried and concerned about their legal rights to their children after delivery in Texas. We wanted to address their concerns.

www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/18/jason-hanna-and-joe-riggs_n_5506720.html

The couple in this story did not use an Agency to guide them on their journey. They went it alone, and somehow ended up with an attorney who did not practice in North Texas, but instead had a primary practice in Houston. This attorney either had a foolish political agenda and purposely filed in Tarrant county courts to gain fame and notoriety in trying to overturn the policies there, or he was simply incompetent and made uninformed decisions about where to file his client’s legal paperwork.

When you hire Simple Surrogacy, we provide you with a competent attorney who understands the Texas legal landscape. Your attorney will work in concert with the Surrogate’s attorney, to prepare and negotiate your agreement.

Once everyone has agreed, the agreement is signed and notarized. The next step is to establish your parentage, which can be done in a number of ways depending on your particular case. One way in which your parentage can be confirmed is through the Texas statutory validation process. The validation process results in obtaining a pre-birth order from the Court that names both intended parents as the legal parents, or the single intended parent as the sole legal parent. Whether or not a same sex couple or single intended parent can obtain an order naming them as the parent(s) of the child prior to birth depends on several factors. First, a same sex couple must be married in order to obtain an order prior to the birth naming them both as the legal parents. Second, the attorney handling your case must know the views of the Judge he or she is asking to grant the order naming you as the parents of the child. Surrogacy in general involves some areas of unsettled law; however, the attorneys who frequently work with our clients have taken the time to speak with local Judges about their views and to present their legal argument as to why they believe the laws in Texas support validation of a gestational agreement for same sex married couples and single intended parents. Many local Judges have agreed with those arguments. Even if obtaining a pre-birth order is not an option or undesirable, there are other legal avenues by which your attorney can work with you to confirm your parental rights and be found the child’s legal parent.

Simple Surrogacy works with experienced attorneys such as Lauren Gaydos Duffer, and our clients have always been able to obtain parentage to their Child. Please be confident that when you choose Simple Surrogacy as your Agency, we will insure that your journey to Fatherhood through the Texas court system is a smooth one.