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The American Fertility Association Blog
Georgia House Bill 388
June 2, 2009 - Tuesday
Posted by admin
By Melissa Brisman Esq. and Laurren Cuozzo Esq.
“The first ever embryo adoption act has passed and was signed into law in the United States. The repercussions of this very well may be far reaching and extreme, not only for individuals pursuing third party reproduction, but for the entire area of the law known as reproductive rights. We at The AFA will be covering this highly disturbing and important issue, as well as all of its ramifications extensively. As a first step, we determined that full understanding of Georgia House Bill 388 is important for our readers and we turned to Melissa Brisman, Esq. and Lauren Cuozzo, Esq. to clarify it for you, below. Please check The AFA blog often for updates.” - The AFA Staff
The Option of Adoption Act, Georgia House Bill 388, is the nation’s first ever embryo adoption bill. It passed the Georgia House by a vote of 108 to 61 and was signed into law by Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue. It will take effect July 1st of this year. Once enacted, this law will allow recipients of donated embryos to “adopt” those embryos. These recipients can petition the Georgia superior court for a pre-birth order of adoption or “parentage.” However, recipients will still need to enter into a valid contract with the current “custodian” of the embryos. Where the “custodian” of the embryos to be donated created those embryos through the use of another donor, the court order (that recipients receive from the superior court) will terminate the rights of the genetic donor as well as the donating individual or couple. As a general matter, this law does not simplify the process for recipients of donated embryos. It creates more paperwork, court orders, and costs in a process that is currently relatively painless and less expensive than an adoption.
The new law defines an “embryo” as “an individual fertilized ovum of the human species from the single-cell stage to eight-week development.” It is unusual to describe a fertilized egg as an “individual” at the “single-cell stage.” Most people, including scientists and medical professionals, would not use this definition. According to the language of this law, these embryos are no longer “donated” by a donor but instead are “adopted” from a “guardian.” Not every embryo results in a baby. Under this law, recipients could incur the expense of “adopting” an embryo that never results in a child.
Melissa B. Brisman, Esq., LLC, located in Park Ridge, New Jersey. Melissa Brisman can be reached at and http://www.reproductivelawyer.com.
Lauren Cuozzo. Associate at the firm, Melissa B. Brisman, Esq., LLC. Ms. Cuozzo can be reached at .
Categories
Adoption •
Donor Egg •
Embryo Donation •
Family Building •
Frozen Embryos •
Third Party Reproduction
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