Surrogacy: When is there a Conflict of Interest?

What the heck is a "conflict of interest"? Well in the surrogacy world (and in MY opinion) it means a couple of things. Number 1 is when Intended Parents hire an attorney and that attorney ALSO matches them with a surrogate. To make it clear, the attorney is acting as legal council AND surrogacy agency. Well that doesn't seem to be a conflict UNLESS you look at what the attorney is attempting to do. The attorney is taking payment from Intended Parents to match them with one of their potential surrogates (agency fees) and money for drawing up contracts, parentage actions, and escrow accounts (legal fees). Who is left out of this equation? Perhaps the woman acting as surrogate. She has signed on with the attorney's office believing that she will be "protected" legally. That the attorney will be representing HER when often the case is the only people being represented are the ones paying: The Intended Parents. Number 2 is when a surrogate waives her own right to an attorney to save these poor, stressed out Intended Parents from one more bill. (usually $600.00 to $1,000) Then when the surrogate has a question and contacts the IP's attorney for clarification (the only attorney in this case now) she finds that she can't get an answer because there would be a "conflict of interest". So unless she wants to pull money from her own pocket she will not have any legal council at all.

Needless to say all the above can be avoided! Intended Parents and Surrogates, GO WITH AN AGENCY! Yes, IP's pay the agency fee however, most of the time, that fee covers not only the matching but support for ALL parties, relationship management, conflict resolution and so on. Hire a SEPERATE Attorney proficient in ART Law for all the legal matters and a SEPERATE Attorney for contract review for the surrogate. A little more investment saves a lot of headache. Surrogates, INSIST that you have your own legal council. There may be a cap on the amount in your contract but if the worst happens at least you will be affiliated with an attorney that knows your case and your contract. Intended Parents, please do your homework....a "package deal" may not be a deal at all.....