Last Friday, the Supreme Court of the US state of Iowa acknowledged that the couple from Cedar Rapids, in whom the child was born with the help of a surrogate mother, are the legal parents of the child. Thus, the court for the first time confirmed that surrogate motherhood contracts are subject to mandatory execution in the state of Iowa in full accordance with their legal interpretation. This state is included in most jurisdictions that do not have a statute addressing this issue. Until now, there has also been no precedent for prosecuting similar cases in Iowa.
Last Friday, the Iowa High Court recognized that the Cedar Rapids couple, who had a child with a surrogate mother, were the child’s legal parents.
This is the first time that the State Supreme Court has applied the practice of surrogate motherhood and concluded that the surrogate motherhood contract between the Paul and Shantel Montover from Cedar Rapids and the surrogate from Muscatine is implemented in accordance with Iowa law.
The court ruled: “The practice of recognizing surrogate maternity contracts as void deprives infertile couples of the opportunity to raise their own biological children and limits the personal right of women who want to serve as surrogate mothers to bear and bear a child who should be raised by his loving parents.”
Background.
Montover agreed to pay $ 13,000 to surrogate under the contract, but after giving birth, she decided to keep the child for herself. The court ruled, since Paul Montover is the biological father of the child, he will have permanent custody of the 17-month-old baby, referred to in court documents as “Baby H”.
“This is good news for families looking for alternative ways to have children,” says Casey Rigdon, a lawyer from Cedar Rapids. “If the decision were different, it would have made surrogacy impossible in Iowa.”
“Baby H” was born as a result of using donor sperm from Paul Montover and his wife’s donor egg after concluding a contract with a gestational surrogate from eastern Iowa, which received a reward of $ 13,000. Surmama, identified in court documents only by the initials T.B., decided to keep the child for herself because she suddenly showed concern about the behavior of Montover.
On August 31, 2016, a surrogate mother gave birth to twins, but one of the children died. The Montovers demanded to return the remaining child as soon as they found out about the birth. In Lynn County District Court last February, the judge ruled that surrogate motherhood agreement was executed in full and did not contradict Iowa’s state policy or the constitutional rights of the mother and / or child.
In Iowa, there is no regulatory document that details the enforcement of surrogacy agreements. But the Iowa Code 710.11 (https://www.lawserver.com/law/state/iowa/ia-code/iowa_code_710-11), which recognizes an attempt to sell or buy another person as a criminal offense, says that this section does not apply to a surrogate motherhood contract.
However, Harold Cassidy, a lawyer from New Jersey in the loud case of “Baby M”, which also included a gestational surrogate from Muscatine district, argued at one time that such a court decision creates a precedent for the product classification of children and exploitation of women and is contrary to government policy.
This time, the Court acknowledged that the parties voluntarily concluded a surrogacy agreement, and the gestational surrogate did not declare that it had signed it under economic pressure. In addition, she gave birth to four children earlier and “was not unfamiliar with the effects of pregnancy.”
So in this case, Cassidy argues that important constitutional issues remain unresolved. In his opinion, procedural laws, as well as equal rights of mother and child, guaranteed by the US Constitution, were violated as a result of the agreement, and the court made a mistake, based on state legislation, and was not consistent with federal constitutional norms.
“The child has the constitutional right not to be used as a commodity,” he said in a statement after a court session, “and maintains the relationship with the mother who bore him and gave birth.”
Montover, who told his story to the online edition of The Register, said that they were busy searching for the remains of a dead child for proper burial, but they do so with the feeling and responsibility of real parents. His wife Chantel Montover believes that what happened is extremely important for the future of surrogate motherhood in Iowa.
Based on https://www.desmoinesregister.com/
