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Surrogacy Law in Minnesota
Author: Judith D. Vincent
Minnesota law is entirely silent on the issue of surrogacy. It has no statutes and no case law related to this area. Although a bill has been introduced in committee in the last two sessions of the legislature to regulate surrogacy agreements, it has never even had a hearing.
The only existing law in Minnesota which impacts surrogacy is an artifical insemination statute enacted in 1980. This statute provides that if a woman is artificially inseminated under a doctor's supervision and with the consent of her husband, the husband is "treated in law" as if he were the biological father of a child thus conceived. It also provides that the donor of the semen is "treated in law" as if he were not the biological father of the child. There have been no challenges to this statute and no cases focusing on interpretation of the statute.
Minnesota adoption statutes do not mention surrogacy. However, in going forward with surrogacy arrangements, an adoption of the child by one or both intended parents will probably be necessary. Therefore, surrogacy agreements must be carefully drafted so that no violations of adoption law occur. This is especially important in the payment of various expenses for the surrogate.
Minnesota does have a Recognition of Parentage procedure set up in the Parentage Act. This allows the donor husband to be placed on the child's birth certificate as the father. If the surrogate is married, the surrogate's husband must sign a Non-paternity Statement declaring himself not to be the father of the child. By having the donor father on the birth certificate, the intended parents can do a step-parent adoption to obtain parental rights for the intended mother. This procedure works for either traditional surrogacy or gestational carrier arrangements.
In addition to the step-parent procedure, Minnesota also has a process to terminate parental rights in court. This alternative can be used if the Recognition of Parentage procedure is not legally adequate for any reason. In this case the parental rights of the surrogate and her spouse, if any, are ended by the court. The donor parent(s) can then adopt the child under the rules of the state in which they reside.
Copyright 1996. The American Surrogacy Center, Inc.(TASC), Marietta, GA
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