Section 168-B:23 Hearing and Validation of Surrogacy Arrangement.
I. Petitioners shall be present at the hearing.
II. The parties may offer additional evidence deemed relevant by the court, and the court may require the submission of such additional information as it deems appropriate under the circumstances.
III. An order validating the surrogacy contract shall be issued only if, after the hearing, the court makes the following findings:
(a) All parties to the surrogacy contract have given their informed consent;
(b) The surrogacy contract conforms to all of the requirements of RSA 168-B:25, and contains no prohibited or unconscionable terms;
(c) Evaluations and counseling, pursuant to RSA 168-B:18-19, have been completed, and petitioners have been determined by the persons performing the evaluations or counseling to be qualified to enter into the surrogacy arrangement as provided by this chapter; and
(d) The surrogacy contract is in the best interest of the intended child.
IV. The effect of a judicial order validating the surrogacy arrangement shall be the automatic termination of the parental rights of the surrogate and her husband, if any, after the birth of a child born as a result of the arrangement and a vesting of those rights solely in the intended parents, unless the surrogate exercises her rights under RSA 168-B:25, IV, to keep the child, in which case any parental rights of the intended parents are terminated and shall be vested solely in the surrogate and her husband, if any. In the event the surrogate exercises her rights to keep the child, and parental rights of the intended parents are terminated, the obligation to provide financial support shall also be terminated.
Source. 1990, 87:2, eff. Jan. 1, 1991.