New Hampshire Surrogacy Law
Summary: New Hampshire law allows surrogacy agreements, but it is not completely clear that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) individuals can enter into enforceable surrogacy agreements.
Explanation: According to New Hampshire law, “‘[i]ntended parents,’ including an ‘intended father’ and ‘intended mother,’ means people who are married to each other, and who enter a surrogacy contract with a surrogate by which they are to become the parents of the resulting child.” Additionally, there are certain eligibility requirements that all surrogacy agreements must meet, and they specifically mention the intended mother and intended father: “The intended mother shall be medically determined to be physiologically unable to bear a child without risk to her health or to the child's health;” “[t]he intended mother or the intended father shall provide a gamete to be used to impregnate the surrogate;” “[t]he intended mother or surrogate shall provide the ovum.” These factors suggest that surrogacy agreements are unavailable to LGBT individuals; however, now that same-sex couples have the right to marry in New Hampshire, it seems possible that a court would look favorably upon a surrogacy agreement involving LGBT individuals.
Additionally, some jurisdictions permit joint adoption by LGBT couples, and there is no explicit prohibition on LGBT individuals adopting the child of their same-sex partner.
Citations: N.H. REV. STAT. ANN. §§ 168-B:1-B:32 (2009).
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Last Updated: 9/9/2009