Each industry has its own terms that become commonly used within that industry. As many of you that have endeavored into third party reproduction have learned or realized, it is a monumental undertaking. Not only does it take mental and emotional toughness, fortitude, and commitment, it takes money and time, lots of time. Perhaps that is why the most common term in the third-party reproduction industry is “Journey.” It truly is that: a journey. A journey with a unique and beautiful goal of having a baby, of starting your family. If you are reading this blog through GoStork, you have already started your journey. You are maybe feeling overwhelmed, but also hopeful.
Fertility and Surrogacy Legal Group (FSLG) has been helping parents start their families in this field for more than a decade, and the best advice we can offer is to be hopeful, patient, and develop a support team of knowledgeable professionals. A support team that you can trust and rely on who will make traversing this journey less overwhelming and more manageable and successful. Your team will assist you with all of the logistics, including screening, matching, medical, legal, travel, hospital administration, and help you to navigate all of the various needs and issues that you will encounter.
At FSLG, we identified reoccurring threshold concepts that our clients were facing, and at times struggling to understand. We wanted to provide parents with a simple summary of at least a few of these important issues to consider on their journey, written in easy-to-understand language, so we developed a Whitepaper (5 things to consider when exploring surrogacy (fertilityandsurrogacylegal.com)). The Whitepaper discusses the specific topics of:
1) Surrogacy post-Dobbs
2) Termination/abortion in surrogacy arrangements
3) What options parents have when dealing with one of their more significant obligations—covering their surrogate’s pregnancy related medical expenses
4) Where to have their funds for the journey held, by what entity, and how to monitor its use
FSLG’s Whitepaper just touches the surface. There are, of course, many more additional thoughts and considerations for this journey. Find your trusted advisors, professionals, and perhaps friends and peers that have also endeavored on their own journey. This team will not only help you start your family, but will also give you the much needed technical and emotional support that everyone wants and needs throughout your journey and up to and after the day your baby is born.
Best of luck to you. Be strong, remain excited, and stay hopeful, as the successes in this field are many and immeasurable.
Rich Geisler is the principal and founder of Fertility & Surrogacy Legal Group. Dedicated to using his diverse skill set and extensive legal expertise to help better the lives of others, Rich started our firm with the notion that everyone should be supported in creating a family.
With over a decade of legal experience, Rich’s primary focus is in fertility and third-party reproduction law. Rich finds his attention to customer service, and his approachable attitude makes him perfect for this type of law. To that end, Rich has helped countless clients from all over the world achieve the family they have always wanted, making him an “uncle” to children around the globe.
Rich is an active member in the American Bar Association’s Family Law and Assisted Reproduction Legal Section. He is also a fellow in the Academy of Adoption and Assisted Reproduction Attorneys and has presented to his peers on the nuances of fertility law and specifically trust fund management best practices. Rich has traveled internationally to meet with clients and organizations interested in fertility laws in the United States.
As a leader in the community, Rich donates his time and wisdom in service of multiple nonprofit boards, including: Civic San Diego and Recreational Music Center. He also spent a number of years as an adjunct professor of business law, management and policy courses at various schools in San Diego.
Rich personally ensures that our clients receive the very best legal representation, while honoring and respecting the needs and rights of persons of differing backgrounds, orientations, philosophies and creeds. Having built our professional team by hand, he is proud of Fertility & Surrogacy Legal Group‘s commitment to excellence to our clients domestically and abroad.