Our practice offers cutting edge, comprehensive legal representation in all matters of fertility law, including surrogacy, gamete donation, legal parentage, embryo disposition, and embryo disputes. We pride ourselves on our unparalleled personalized and concierge-level service throughout our clients’ family building process, often beginning during the IVF clinical phase and continuing for the duration of a pregnancy. Our one-on-one accessibility to clients is unmatched.
Through groundbreaking work, our attorneys have modernized the legal definition of family and secured legal recognition for countless families worldwide. We are dedicated to delivering unmatched skill and empathy to clients of all sexual orientations as they build their families through assisted reproduction.
The members of our Fertility Law team also maintain robust matrimonial practices and offer unique counsel at the intersection of fertility and family law – particularly in matters involving embryo disputes and the marital presumption of parentage – forging a forceful union with our firm’s Matrimonial and Family Law group. In collaboration with SSRGA’s esteemed Trusts and Estates attorneys, our practice also offers the nuanced estate planning necessary for family building through assisted reproduction. This synergistic “one-stop” approach uniquely situates our firm to handle the complex and diverse legal needs inherent to modern families.
Collectively, our attorneys are admitted to practice in New York, Michigan, Connecticut, and New Jersey, and we regularly consult on matters throughout the country and internationally.
Gestational Surrogacy Agreements
Surrogacy agreements between intended parents and surrogates (and a surrogate’s spouse or partner, if applicable) set forth the rights, responsibilities, and expectations of all parties, addressing critical issues such as medical procedures, compensation, insurance coverage, lifestyle considerations, and legal parentage. Because surrogacy arrangements intersect with complex legal, ethical, medical, and financial considerations, they require thoughtful preparation and precision to ensure that all parties are protected and supported, and all parties enter into the agreement with clarity and confidence.
Our team is widely recognized for drafting and negotiating gestational surrogacy agreements that are not mere forms or boilerplate contracts; our agreements are carefully crafted and curated, iterative, and designed to reflect the unique needs of each match.
Egg, Sperm, and Embryo Donation Agreements
Donor agreements are essential legal instruments that define the rights, responsibilities, and expectations of both intended parent recipients and gamete (egg/sperm) or embryo donors. These agreements are ideally completed pre-conception and are designed to memorialize and establish donative intent, and set forth binding provisions addressing post-birth contact and expectations, jurisdictional considerations, confidentiality, and any agreed-upon compensation.
Donor agreements reflect either a “known” or “directed” relationship between donor and recipients, or an “anonymous” relationship, but in all cases should reflect and acknowledge medical advances that make at-home DNA testing and genetic tracking readily available to the public, including the donor-conceived children born from the arrangement.
Parentage Proceedings and Birth Certificates
We represent clients in parentage proceedings in New York, Michigan, New Jersey, and Connecticut to obtain court orders affirming and securing their legal parentage status following assisted reproduction, surrogacy, and donor arrangements. In most cases, these streamlined proceedings provide a welcome legal advancement and alternative to the lengthy, expensive, and invasive process of a second parent adoption.
Post birth, we work closely with clerks of court, birth registrars, and state vital records offices to ensure timely issuance or correction of birth certificates.
Embryo Disposition Agreements
Before undergoing IVF, patients are required to complete standardized forms that direct the IVF clinic as to control, use, and disposition of stored embryos in the event of death, divorce and/or separation. Patients are generally given the option to either destroy and discard embryos, donate them to science and research, or transfer ownership and control of the embryos to either the patient or the partner. These forms are often inadequate and do not reflect patients’ full legal intentions.
We help clients go beyond clinic forms by preparing binding embryo disposition agreements that address and detail their wishes as to both the use of embryos and the legal parentage implications in cases of divorce, death, or separation. Such agreements may stand alone or be incorporated into broader legal documents, including prenuptial or postnuptial agreements, to ensure clarity and enforceability in the context of the parties’ relationship and family planning goals.
Embryo Disputes
As seasoned matrimonial attorneys and litigators, Alexis L. Cirel and Eric I. Wrubel are uniquely positioned to resolve embryo-related disputes in the context of divorce or separation, balancing emotional sensitivity with strategic negotiation or litigation when necessary.
Consulting, Case Management, and Support
We regularly provide strategic consulting, ongoing support, and hands-on coordination from the very beginning of our clients’ paths to parenthood. In this role, we act as a central, trusted hub that connects the many moving parts of a fertility journey.
Estate Planning and Genetic Material Storage
Through our collaboration with SSRGA’s Trusts & Estates Group, we offer specialized estate planning tailored to the needs of intended parents and surrogates. We also assist clients with stored embryos, eggs, or sperm in crafting estate plans and authorization forms addressing posthumous reproduction and its implications.
Legal Services Tailored to the LGBTQ+ Community
The LGBTQ+ community has specific legal needs when navigating the family-building process. As industry leaders on the intersection of fertility law and LGBTQ+ family law, we are well-equipped to provide specialized and compassionate guidance throughout the fertility process, including but not limited to, donor and surrogacy arrangements, parentage establishment, and estate planning.
We regularly facilitate introductions to trusted clinics, mental health providers, surrogacy and donor agencies, and other industry processionals that specifically tailor to LGBTQ+ individuals and families.