                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

CONTRACTS NOT APPROVED BY THE COURT; REQUIREMENTS (§ 20-162)

A. In the case of any surrogacy agreement for which prior court approval has not
been obtained pursuant to § 20-160, the provisions of this section and §§
20-156 through 20-159 and §§ 20-163 through 20-165 shall apply. Any provision
in a surrogacy contract that attempts to reduce the rights or responsibilities
of the intended parent, the surrogate, or her spouse, if any, or the rights of
any resulting child shall be reformed to include the requirements set forth in
this chapter. A provision in the contract providing for compensation to be paid
to the surrogate is void and unenforceable. Such surrogacy contracts shall be
enforceable and shall be construed only as follows:

   1. The surrogate, her spouse, if any, and the intended parent shall be parties
   to any such surrogacy contract.

   2. The contract shall be in writing, signed by all the parties, and
   acknowledged before an officer or other person authorized by law to take
   acknowledgments.

   3. Upon expiration of three days following birth of any resulting child, the
   surrogate may relinquish her parental rights to the intended parent, if at
   least one intended parent is the genetic parent of the child, or the embryo
   was subject to the legal or contractual custody of such intended parent, by
   signing a surrogate consent and report form naming the intended parent as the
   parent of the child. The surrogate consent and report form shall be developed,
   furnished, and distributed by the State Registrar of Vital Records. The
   surrogate consent and report form shall be signed and acknowledged before an
   officer or other person authorized by law to take acknowledgments. The
   surrogate consent and report form, a copy of the contract, and a statement
   from the physician who performed the assisted conception stating either the
   genetic relationships between the child, the surrogate, and at least one
   intended parent, or proof of the legal or contractual custody of the embryo,
   shall be filed with the State Registrar within 180 days after the birth. The
   statement from the physician shall be signed and acknowledged before an
   officer or other person authorized by law to take acknowledgments. There shall
   be a rebuttable presumption that the statement from the physician accurately
   states the genetic relationships among the child, the surrogate, and the
   intended parent. Where a physician&#8217;s statement is not available and at
   least one intended parent is a genetic parent, DNA testing establishing the
   genetic relationships between the child, the surrogate, and the intended
   parent may be substituted for the physician&#8217;s statement.

   4. Upon the filing of the surrogate consent and report form and the required
   attachments, including the physician&#8217;s statement, DNA testing
   establishing the genetic relationships between the child, the surrogate, and
   the intended parent, or proof of the legal or contractual custody of the
   embryo, within 180 days of the birth, a new birth certificate shall be
   established by the State Registrar for the child naming the intended parent as
   the parent of the child as provided in &#xA7; 32.1-261.

B. Any contract governed by the provisions of this section shall include or, in
the event such provisions are not explicitly covered in the contract or are
included but are inconsistent with this section, shall be deemed to include the
following provisions:

   1. The intended parent shall be the parent of any resulting child when the
   surrogate relinquishes her parental rights as provided in subdivision A 3 and
   a new birth certificate is established as provided in subdivision A 4 of this
   section and &#xA7; 32.1-261, unless parentage is instead established through
   Chapter 3.1 (&#xA7; 20-49.1 et seq.);

   2. Incorporation of this chapter and a statement by each of the parties that
   they have read and understood the contract, they know and understand their
   rights and responsibilities under Virginia law, and the contract was entered
   into knowingly and voluntarily; and

   3. A guarantee by the intended parent for payment of reasonable medical and
   ancillary costs either in the form of insurance, cash, escrow, bonds, or other
   arrangements satisfactory to the parties, including allocation of
   responsibility for such costs in the event of termination of the pregnancy,
   termination of the contract, or breach of the contract by any party.

C. Under any contract that does not include an allocation of responsibility for
reasonable medical and ancillary costs in the event of termination of the
pregnancy, termination of the contract, or breach of the contract by any party,
the following provisions shall control:

   1. If the intended parent and the surrogate and her spouse, if any, and if
   such spouse is a party to the contract, consent in writing to termination of
   the contract, the intended parent is responsible for all reasonable medical
   and ancillary costs for a period of six weeks following the termination.

   2. If the surrogate is a genetic parent and voluntarily terminates the
   contract during the pregnancy, without consent of the intended parent, the
   intended parent shall be responsible for one-half of the reasonable medical
   and ancillary costs incurred prior to the termination.

   3. If, after the birth of any resulting child, the surrogate is also a genetic
   parent and fails to relinquish parental rights to the intended parent pursuant
   to the contract, the intended parent shall be responsible for one-half of the
   reasonable medical and ancillary costs incurred prior to the birth.

HISTORY: 1991, c. 600; 2000, c. 890; 2010, c. 712; 2019, c. 375.