What if the intended parents die during our surrogacy journey? Am I responsible for the baby?

Learn the answer to this week's user-submitted question about surrogacy in this week's installment of Ask a Surrogacy Expert! Have a question about surrogacy that you'd like answered? Submit it at brightfuturesfamilies.com/ask

There are protections in place to ensure that gestational carriers are not responsible for the intended parent's baby in the event of their death. Amanda explains why having legal representation is crucial during a surrogacy journey for this reason and many more!

Ready to start your journey as a gestational surrogate?

Hey everyone, it's Amanda, Director of Bright Futures Families Surrogacy and today's Ask Question. And the question is, what if the intended parents die during the surrogacy journey? Am I responsible for the baby? And the answer is no. So intended parents should have like a will or a trust or something of that sort set up ahead of time. But also that's why you have a gestational carrier agreement, because that outlines if something does happen to the intended parents, who is then responsible for the baby. So whether it's one of their siblings, aunts, uncles, grandparents, whatever that is, they should have somebody designated that if something happens to them that this other person will be responsible for the baby. So no, it is not the surrogate's responsibility. The baby does not then become their baby. It's whoever the intended parents has appointed as the legal guardian in case something happens to them. Obviously, if you have any other questions or concerns, we love to help answer them or point you to a lawyer that could also help answer those questions. Hope you have a great day.