Marla Neufeld, Esq., Florida Surrogacy Attorney, Featured Speaker for BioJur

On February 5, 2021, Florida reproductive attorney, Marla Neufeld, was the presenting speaker for webinar regarding Florida laws on surrogacy, egg, sperm, and embryo donation.The event was hosted by Florencia Daud, an Argentine lawyer specializing in bioethics and reproductive technology law. Ms. Daud co-founded BioJur, an organization in Argentina dedicated to educating people about reproductive rights.The mission of Biojur is as follows:

BioJur is a Charitable Foundation dedicated to encourage public understanding of bioethical issues and to explore solutions to bioethical challenges in Argentina in order to improve people's lives.We focus on research regarding the legal implications of the the (sic) use of Emerging Technologies.Founded in 2018 by Mgr. Florencia Daud, through BioJur events and activities we seek to keep policy decision-makers, the media, and the general public informed and aware of important bioethical issues.Such awareness is essential for making informed decisions and promoting public debate. It is through such debate that old practices and beliefs are challenged, and new social norms are formed. We also offer legal assitance (sic) in cases where argentinean law has legal vaccums (sic) regarding new technologies or to preserve civil society's rights

During the presentation, Ms. Neufeld provided an overview of Florida surrogacy law and the Florida laws regarding egg, sperm and embryo donation. Ms. Neufeld also shared her own personal experience as a former intended parent and what it is like personally to go through surrogacy.A point emphasized by Ms. Neufeld is the importance of international intended parents coming to the United States to work with a surrogate is at the beginning of any journey for the intended parents to consult with an attorney in the U.S. to learn about the legal process of the surrogacy journey, but to also consult with an attorney in their home country (in this case Argentina) to learn about whatever legal steps may be needed once the intended parents return home from the U.S. with the baby. Each state in the United States has different laws and regulations regarding surrogacy so an intended parent needs to determine the appropriate attorney to speak to, generally which is based on the location of their surrogate.Another consideration for international intended parents coming to the U.S. for surrogacy is for them to analyze their legal ability to travel and stay in the United States for certain periods of time to ensure that they can legally be in the U.S. for any required medical procedures, for the birth of the child, and for enough time to allow for the passport to be issued for the baby after the birth in order to travel back home with the baby. With concerns over COVID, there may be additional time considerations for an international intended parent to consider so having the proper ability to travel to the United States is an important consideration when embarking upon a U.S. surrogacy journey while living abroad.Read more about finalizing parental rights after international surrogacy here.