On September 23, 2012, Governor Jerry Brown signed into law AB 1217 which is an Amendment to the California Family Code relating to Surrogacy Agreements.

Here are some highlights of this new bill:
Requires the Surrogate Mother and the Intended Parent(s) to be represented by separate legal counsel

Requires the signatures on the Surrogacy Agreement be notarized
No embryo transfer can be conducted or medications taken before the Surrogacy Agreement is executed

Building Families is excited to see this become a part of California law. These are the minimum standards that we and the professionals we work with practice.

California is once again setting the standard for how surrogacy should be conducted. We think this is a great example for the world. Kudos to the California attorneys who finally brought these standards into law which is better for all.

Read the entire amendment here:

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/11-12/bill/asm/ab_1201-1250/ab_1217_bill_20120923_chaptered.pdf

I wrote about my new friend in last weeks blog. I met with her and her parents to say good-bye at Ruby’s in HB. We discussed again their hopes and dreams of bringing a brother or sister into their daughter’s life. They felt like they needed to explain, but I held my hand up and said, “I totally understand your thoughts”. They looked at me sitting next to my brother, Jerry, and nodded. They said, “Of course you do.” The 40+ years that I can remember being Jerry’s little sister suddenly flashed through my mind. With so many years, it was more like mini-movie, not really a quick flash. Ha! But at the end, it made me grateful that my parents gave me the gift of my brothers and sisters. I truly do understand the gift they are wanting to give their daughter. Let’s all send positive vibes to them this week as we pray for this miracle!

The month of September will now be known as National Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, proclaimed by our President on August 31, 2012. Thousands of women every year lose their battle to Ovarian Cancer, but is there something being done about it? Our government is stepping up to ensure Americans have information on this disease, how to look for early signs, and the preventative measures one can take to reduce the risk. Obama has restricted insurance companies from dropping women who have been diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer. Do your part this month to help raise awareness and spread the knowledge!

• Obama on National Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month
• Why Teal Information Poster
• http://www.whyteal.org

From ArmyTimes.com
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2012/09/military-senate-panel-oks-fertility-help-for-wounded-troops-091212w/

A Senate committee has approved providing fertility counseling and treatment, as well as adoption benefits, to veterans with traumatic injuries that affect their reproductive organs.

The landmark policy change would cover artificial insemination and, if necessary, surrogacy so that service-connected wounds are not a barrier to having a family.

Benefits are aimed at the 1,800 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who have suffered spinal cord injuries or devastating wounds, mostly from improvised explosive devices, to their reproductive organs.

Fertility treatments are included in S 3313, the Women Veterans and Other Health Care Improvement Act of 2012, passed by the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee on Sept. 12 by voice vote after extended debate over whether surrogacy should be covered.

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the veterans’ committee chairwoman and chief sponsor of the bill, said including surrogacy as a covered medical treatment is the only way to ensure that a woman who suffers severe wounds to her reproductive organs would have benefits equal to a male veteran. “We cannot treat one veteran better than the next,” she said.

“This bill would help injured veterans and their spouses make real the dream of starting a family,” Murray said. “Expanding these treatments to veterans is the right thing to do. It is what our veterans deserve.”

With surrogacy and adoption benefits, the planned Veterans Affairs Department program would be broader than the limited fertility treatments the Defense Department offers to service members.

This difference prompted Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina, ranking Republican on the veterans’ committee, to call for a review of the Defense Department plan before moving ahead with the Senate bill.

Murray wasn’t persuaded to wait for a review of defense health programs, but her bill is not moving forward anytime soon. One of six veterans’ bills approved by the committee, none of the measures had been reviewed by the Congressional Budget Office to determine either their full effect or their price tags.

Murray said the necessary funding will be found before the measure is formally reported to the full Senate, but she warned that this behind-the-scenes work may not be finished before Congress takes a pre-election break.

Burr said the fact that the costs of the bills are not covered is yet another reason why committee action could have been put off until November.

Resolve has developed a questionnaire, “Surrogacy Questions to Ask” , for the Intended Parents researching how to build their family with the help of a Surrogate Mother. We found the list to be an excellent resource and decided to answer them for our readers as well. Do remember that these answers are based on our specific Gestational Surrogacy Program.

Check out our responses to these questions here and please feel free to ask us anything else that you are curious about. You can reach us at [email protected].