(a)  The intended parent or parents are liable for the health care costs of the gestational carrier that are not paid by insurance. As used in this section, “health care costs” means the expenses of all health care provided for assisted reproduction, prenatal care, labor, and delivery.

Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 15-8.1-809

  • Assisted reproduction: means a method of causing pregnancy other than through sexual intercourse and includes, but is not limited to:

    (i)  Intrauterine, intracervical, or vaginal insemination;

    (ii)  Donation of gametes;

    (iii)  Donation of embryos;

    (iv)  In vitro fertilization and transfer of embryos; and

    (v)  Intracytoplasmic sperm injection. See Rhode Island General Laws 15-8.1-102

  • 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
  • Parent: means an individual who has established parentage that meets the requirements of this chapter. See Rhode Island General Laws 15-8.1-102

(b)  A gestational carrier agreement shall explicitly detail how the health care costs of the gestational carrier are paid. The breach of a gestational carrier agreement by a party to the agreement does not relieve the intended parent or parents of the liability for health care costs imposed by subsection (a) of this section.

(c)  This section is not intended to supplant any health insurance coverage that is otherwise available to the gestational carrier or an intended parent for the coverage of health care costs. This section does not change the health insurance coverage of the gestational carrier or the responsibility of the insurance company to pay benefits under a policy that covers a gestational carrier.

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