Family

For the second year in a row, a bill regulating the practice of surrogate pregnancies will not make it out of a committee.

On March 26 the House Civil Law Committee tabled HF792, which would have a created a legal framework for parents unable to have children naturally to reach agreement with a surrogate mother. Under the practice an embryo from the biological parents is implanted into a surrogate mother. At birth, the biological parents take full legal responsibility for the child.

Though the practice already takes place nationwide, the bill codifies certain guidelines for parents and surrogates and requires a set of legal agreements clarifying all parties' rights and responsibilities in the arrangement.

Rep. Kathy Tingelstad (R-Andover), the House sponsor, said the bill would be a model for other states because it incorporates so many different elements of the surrogacy process, from requiring psychological assessments of all parents, to limiting the amount of money a surrogate could be paid.

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