(a)  Before the birth of a resulting child, a party to a gestational carrier agreement may commence a proceeding in the family court or the superior court to obtain a birth order declaring the parentage of a child. After the birth of a resulting child, the family court shall have exclusive jurisdiction over a birth order.

Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 15-8.1-804

  • Birth: includes stillbirth and fetal death. See Rhode Island General Laws 15-8.1-102
  • Birth order: means those orders declaring parentage of a child, which may be obtained from a court of competent jurisdiction before or after birth of a child. See Rhode Island General Laws 15-8.1-102
  • Child: means an individual of any age whose parentage may be determined pursuant to this chapter. See Rhode Island General Laws 15-8.1-102
  • Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
  • Gestational carrier: means an adult individual who is not an intended parent and who enters into a gestational carrier agreement to bear a child conceived using the gametes of another individual and not the gestational carrier's own, except that an individual who carries a child for a family member using the gestational carrier's own gametes and who fulfills the requirements of article 8 of this chapter is a gestational carrier. See Rhode Island General Laws 15-8.1-102
  • Gestational carrier agreement: means a contract between an intended parent or parents and a gestational carrier intended to result in a live birth. See Rhode Island General Laws 15-8.1-102
  • Intended parent: means an individual, whether married or unmarried, who manifests an intent to be legally bound as a parent of a child conceived through assisted reproduction or a gestational carrier agreement. See Rhode Island General Laws 15-8.1-102
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Parent: means an individual who has established parentage that meets the requirements of this chapter. See Rhode Island General Laws 15-8.1-102
  • Parentage: means the legal relationship between a child and a parent as established under this chapter. See Rhode Island General Laws 15-8.1-102
  • person: may be construed to extend to and include co-partnerships and bodies corporate and politic. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-6
  • Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form. See Rhode Island General Laws 15-8.1-102
  • Spouse: includes a partner in a civil union or a partner in a legal relationship that provides substantially the same rights, benefits, and responsibilities as marriage and is recognized as valid in the state or jurisdiction in which it was entered. See Rhode Island General Laws 15-8.1-102
  • Transfer: means a procedure for assisted reproduction by which an embryo or sperm is placed in the body of the individual who will give birth to the child. See Rhode Island General Laws 15-8.1-102
  • United States: include the several states and the territories of the United States. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-8

(b)  The birth order shall:

(1)  Declare that at least one of the intended parents is a United States resident;

(2)  Declare that the intended parent or parents are the parent or parents of the resulting child and that parental rights and responsibilities vest exclusively in the intended parent or parents immediately upon the birth of the child;

(3)  Designate the contents of the birth certificate and direct the department of health to designate the intended parent or parents as the parent or parents of the child. The department of health may charge a reasonable fee for the issuance of a birth certificate;

(4)  Seal the record from the public to protect the privacy of the child and the parents; and

(5)  Provide any relief the court determines necessary and proper.

(c)  Neither the state nor the department of health is a necessary party to a proceeding under subsection (a) of this section. Any party to the gestational carrier agreement not joining in the complaint must be served with notice of the proceeding.

(d)  A complaint for an order of parentage under this section must be verified and include the following:

(1)  A certification from the attorney representing the intended parent or parents and the attorney representing the person acting as a gestational carrier that the requirements of § 15-8.1-801 and § 15-8.1-802 have been met; and

(2)  A statement from all parties to the gestational carrier agreement that they entered into the agreement knowingly and voluntarily.

(e)  Where the court finds that the requirements of § 15-8.1-801 and § 15-8.1-802 have been satisfied, the order of parentage will include the following:

(1)  Declaring, that upon the birth of the child born during the term of the gestational carrier agreement, the intended parent or parents is/are the legal parent or parents of the child;

(2)  Declaring, that upon birth of the child born during the term of the gestational carrier agreement, the individual acting as the gestational carrier, and the spouse of the individual acting as the gestational carrier, if any, is not the legal parent of the child;

(3)  Ordering the individual acting as a gestational carrier and the spouse of the individual acting as a gestational carrier, if any, to transfer the child to the intended parent or parents if this has not already occurred;

(4)  Ordering the intended parent or parents to assume responsibility for the maintenance and support of the child immediately upon the birth of the child if this has not already occurred; and

(5)  Designating the contents of the birth certificate and directing the department of health to designate the intended parent or parents as the parent or parents of the child.

(f)  The court shall forward a certified copy of the order issued pursuant to this section to the department of health and the intended parents or their representative.

(g)  The intended parent or parents and any resulting child shall have access to their court records at any time.

History of Section.
P.L. 2020, ch. 59, § 2; P.L. 2020, ch. 60, § 2.