Subj : Re: Nobody's ... script editor To : alt.tv.er From : Sharon Three Date : Mon Oct 03 2005 10:05:00 From Newsgroup: alt.tv.er wrote in message news:1128337748.618198.161480@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com... > > Sharon Three wrote: >> "MauiJNP" wrote in message >> news:pWOdnQSewMCOBt3eUSdV9g@ptd.net... >>> > I didn't think of it that way. The parents should sue the surrogate >>> > for >> > all present and future medical costs, plus emotional damages. >> > >> Since the surrogates didn't take custody of the child from what I >> understand >> (didn't see it), they'd have no legal standing to sue for anything except >> maybe breach of contract and the return of the fees they paid. Besides, >> it's doubtful the surrogate had a big bankroll or she wouldn't have been >> a >> surrogate in the first place, the fee ain't all that much. > > We never saw the final outcome. When Ray told the bioparents that the > baby would 'probably' have neurological problems, biodad said, "I > didn't pay for a brain-dead baby!" Ray explained that the baby wasn't > braindead and it was too soon to know how bad things would turn out to > be. BioDad starts to leave and bioMom says "Where are you going?" > "Home." "What about our son?" she asks. I don't recall his exact > answer, but she follows him after a moment. So it sounds like SHE'S > willing to parent this child, whatever the situation, and maybe if it > turns out that the child appears to have a chance of some sort of life, > bioMom will come back and claim him. > > Though too, wouldn't their 'legal standing' also depend on specifically > what was spelled out in their particular contract?' > > Naomi > (green with envy over your vacation ....) > >> >> Legally in Ohio, the mother who delivers the child is the legal mother, >> even >> if it wasn't her egg that was used, which often it isn't. She must >> surrender her custody rights to the child for the adoptive parents to get >> custody in a private adoption. If she surrenders custody, the baby goes >> into the system if the adoptive parents choose not to proceed with the >> adoption. Even if the potential adoptive father is the bioDad, he is not >> named on the birth certificate unless he submits to paternity testing and >> then agrees to sign it. Even then, he can surrender his rights to the >> child >> just as the birth mom did and there's nothing to be done about it. >> >> Doc Sharon > I'm not a lawyer, but my understanding is that their legal standing derives from their relationship to the child. They can only sue for damages on his behalf if they actually adopt him. If they don't, the best they can do is a breach of contract suit which would probably only cover a refund of the fees paid. I've only seen a few of these contracts, but I've never seen one that called for punitive damages, just a refund, as one could get on any merchandise that was paid for and not received. Pain and suffering is very hard to prove or quantify and my experience tells me that plaintiff's attorneys have no interest in a case where major damages couldn't be paid anyway. Most surrogates get something like $10,000-$25,000 for the whole pregnancy and delivery, not too many attorneys would think a third to half of that was worth their time and it's unlikely a judge would award punitive damages when the defendant probably hasn't got any assets to take in the first place. Doc Sharon .