Florida Surrogacy Gone Horribly Wrong

Last year, a Florida couple, who had used a surrogate successfully a few years ago decided they were ready for another baby. The found another surrogate, signed a "surrogacy contract" with her, and went ahead with the procedure. (Surro-mom is the biological mom, so I’m guessing it was an IUI). But since they trusted her, they never checked to see if she signed the document.
Then, two months into the pregnancy, the family says their surrogate started asking strange questions. "Personal questions, like how much money I made doing this, doing that. And then how much money I made at the end of the year," Tom remembered. "My first surrogate never asked me how much money I made."
And then, a letter arrived from the surrogate mother's lawyer. It says this case is now a "child support issue." Of course, mom and dad were shocked, saying, "We didn't think anybody would be that low to use a child as a way to scam people out of money. That's pretty -- I mean -- I just didn't think anybody would be that low," Tom said.
Then they went to court. The ruling this week was devastating. That couple are not the legal parents of a baby they hired a surrogate mother to bear. The decision leaves the infant with a Jacksonville woman. The only good news under the case is that under Florida law, Tom Lamitina is merely a sperm donor, and not the baby's father, and therefore not required to pay child support.
And now, for my thoughts. I know some wonderful, wonderful people who own and operate surrogacy agencies. However, while a surrogacy agency can be helpful, I do not believe a surrogacy agency is critical to the process, even though they will all be screaming that this case proves otherwise. What this case does prove is that you should never move forward without an attorney handling a surrogacy. Lawyers who specialize in this kind of law often know and recommend surrogate moms, and the fees can be thousands less.

Whatever you do, if you are considering a surrogacy arrangement, please learn from this couple and work with an attorney.