Surrogacy in Arkansas Viable Option for Gays & Lesbians

A recent post on www.proudparenting.com states that Arkansas has two advantages not found in any other state:

"First, the marital status of the surrogate is irrelevant; and no adoption is necessary after the birth of the child to the surrogate parent. The birth certificate lists the parents as those intended in the surrogacy contract."

While California has not provided legislation regarding surrogacy, the case law provides for the same thing. The marital status of the surrogate is irrelevant and no adoption is necessary to place the Intended Parents names on the birth certificate. The intent of the parties controls as evidenced in the legal contract the parties entered into prior to the embryo transfer.

In fact, in California the Intended Parents are declared the parents by court order prior to the birth of their child(ren).

While I knew that Arkansas was a surrogate-friendly state, I had no idea that the laws were so favorable and I applaud the legislature for their insight as they could have drafted legislation similar to Texas and North Dakota where the Intended Parents must be a married heterosexual couple in order for the law to apply.