In recent news, it has come out that Kanye West and Kim Kardashian West are pregnant with their third child – but this time, they are pregnant by surrogacy. A surrogate mother is defined as one “who becomes pregnant usually by artificial insemination or surgical implantation of a fertilized egg for the purpose of carrying the fetus to term for another woman.” While many think of surrogate mothers being used by homosexual couples or those struggling with infertility, surrogacy has also become popular over recent years for mothers who, like Kim, are unable to carry a baby themselves due to health reasons. In Kim’s case, her first two pregnancies put her at risk for both preeclampsia and placenta accreta. Subsequently, surrogacy has brought about an entirely new sector of family law. This blog will discuss where surrogacy laws in Texas stand today.
There are two different types of surrogacy – gestational and traditional. In Texas, Section 160 of the Texas Family Code covers surrogacy. In a gestational surrogacy, the woman carrying the embryo is in no way related to it. This is because the egg and sperm that make up the embryo are derived from the so called “intended parents.” However, egg or sperm donors may also be used if necessary. In a traditional surrogacy, the woman carrying the embryo is the embryo’s biological mother. This is because the surrogate mother is artificially inseminated by the intended father’s sperm. In both types of surrogacy, the surrogate carries the embryo until birth and then gives the baby to the intended parents to raise. In Kim and Kanye’s case, a gestational surrogate was used.
It should be noted that Texas and many other states do not allow traditional surrogacy. In Texas, only gestational surrogacy is covered by the Texas Family Code. This is due to the fact that if the surrogate mother is married, her husband is presumed as the father of the child. This causes clear issues in determining the legal parentage of the child.
Section 160.754 of the Texas Family Code lays out the guidelines for entering into a surrogacy agreement. Specifically, a prospective surrogate mother, her husband (if she has one), any sperm or egg donors (if there are any), and each intended parent may enter into a written agreement providing that:
(1) the prospective gestational mother agrees to pregnancy by means of assisted reproduction;
(2) the prospective gestational mother, her husband if she is married, and each donor other than the intended parents, if applicable, relinquish all parental rights and duties with respect to a child conceived through assisted reproduction;
(3) the intended parents will be the parents of the child; and
(4) the gestational mother and each intended parent agree to exchange throughout the period covered by the agreement all relevant information regarding the health of the gestational mother and each intended parent.
The Texas Family Code also requires that the intended parents be married, that the surrogate mother’s eggs may not be used in the pregnancy (this would make it a traditional surrogacy), and that the child may not be conceived by means of sexual intercourse. The agreement must be entered into before the 14th day preceding the transfer of the embryo (or sperm or egg, if using a donor) occurs for the purpose of implementation (or conception, if using a donor).
The gestational agreement also has strict guidelines regarding what information the physician performing the assisted reproduction procedure must provide to everyone involved in the agreement. These include:
(1) the rate of successful conceptions and births attributable to the procedure, including the most recent published outcome statistics of the procedure at the facility at which it will be performed;
(2) the potential for and risks associated with the implantation of multiple embryos and consequent multiple births resulting from the procedure;
(3) the nature of and expenses related to the procedure;
(4) the health risks associated with, as applicable, fertility drugs used in the procedure, egg retrieval procedures, and egg or embryo transfer procedures; and
(5) reasonably foreseeable psychological effects resulting from the procedure.
These requirements highlight not only the importance of understanding everything that goes into the complicated process of surrogacy, but also outline important health risks that both the surrogate mother, her husband (if she is married), and the intended parents should be aware of. In fact, section 160.754 of the Texas Family Code continues to state that a gestational agreement may not limit the right of the gestational mother to make decisions to safeguard her health or the health of an embryo. This goes to show that the laws behind surrogacy are in place to promote the health of the mother and the embryo. However, a surrogate mother is not expected to make decisions that would adversely affect her own health. If a mother is using a surrogate mother to carry her baby to safeguard her own heath, she can’t ask the surrogate mother to risk hers.
Kim held a cherry blossom themed baby shower this past Saturday, November 11, showing that although she is not experiencing a “traditional” pregnancy this time around, she is still a mother-to-be and is celebrating bringing a new baby into the world. Kim and Kanye’s surrogate mother is due in January of 2018, and Kim just announced they are having a baby girl. She will join her siblings North West (4) and Saint West (1), whom Kim carried and gave birth to herself.
By: Liz Feeney
Liz Feeney is a 3L student attorney/chief counsel in the SMU VanSickle Family Law Clinic.
