Surrogacy in Arizona: The Cross-State Solution

Cross-State Surrogacy® is our unique method of ensuring that a gestational surrogacy can be performed legally in contractually protected in Arizona, as well as any other state in the country.

The Legal Landscape

There has been great attention paid in recent years to laws protecting or limiting women’s bodily autonomy. However, gestational surrogacy practitioners and participants have been experiencing this predicament for decades. Surrogacy laws are governed by states. This has given rise to a crazy quilt of regulations for each state in the union. The laws can vary from states with full legal recognition and protections for surrogacy contracts to states where the contracts are illegal and practitioners can even be charged with a felony

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Arizona Laws

Arizona falls somewhere in the middle of the spectrum. It has a neutral attitude towards the procedure. Per a 1994 appellate court decision (Soos v. Superior Court), Gestational Surrogacy is legal and practiced in the state. However, surrogacy agreements are unenforceable and prohibited by statue. In other words, a surrogacy agreement is not recognized as a legal document. A couple can sign an agreement with a surrogate if they want, but as far as the state is concerned, it has no meaning. One or the other part can violate the agreement at will, and the other party cannot do anything about it.

Here’s an example: an Arizona couple makes a surrogacy arrangement with a woman who will agree to the service. The couple then pays a fee to the surrogate. The surrogate then says she has changed her mind, cancels the deal and keeps the money.

Or on the other side: everything is going great. The embryo transfer has been successful and the surrogate is having a great pregnancy. Six months into the term, the couple says they have changed their mind, won’t pay her anything else, and don’t want the baby. The surrogate has to raise the baby, which is completely unrelated to her, by herself with no assistance from anyone. We think you can see the point.

The Cross-State Surrogacy® Solution

A close reading of state surrogacy laws throughout the country all have one element in common. Any contract for the process is bound by the laws of that state in which the embryo transfer occurs. That is the key to our solution.

We have established close relations with Reproductive Law attorneys and IVF practitioners in states that recognize gestational surrogacy as a legally protected procedure and hold a surrogacy contract as a binding legal document. Additionally, the states’ laws assign parental rights to the Intended Parents. 

You and the surrogate will engage in the normal process, with one change. At certain critical times in the process, you will travel to one of our out-of-state partners and have your procedure done at that location. The most important event is the embryo transfer, but there are a few other times as well. You then return home when it is completed successfully. Fortunately, Nevada and California are both states that recognize the legality of surrogacy contracts.

It no longer matters what type of laws apply in your home state. Your surrogacy agreement is governed by the laws of the state where the transfer takes place. To put it simply, all three of you are protected. Period.

Cross-State Surrogacy® is a service unique to Arizona Miracles. And we’re proud of that.