Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws > Chapter 15-8.1 > Article 8 - Parentage by Gestational Carrier Agreement

• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Appraisal: A determination of property value.
• 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

• 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.
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Determination of parentage: means establishment of a parent-child relationship by a judicial or administrative proceeding or signing of a valid acknowledgement of parentage pursuant to article 3 of this chapter. See Rhode Island General Laws 15-8.1-102
• Embryo: means a cell or group of cells containing a diploid complement of chromosomes or a group of such cells, not including a gamete, that has the potential to develop into a live born human being if transferred into the body of a person under conditions in which gestation may be reasonably expected to occur. See Rhode Island General Laws 15-8.1-102
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• 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
• in writing: include printing, engraving, lithographing, and photo-lithographing, and all other representations of words in letters of the usual form. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-16
• 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.
• Marriage: means and includes civil union and any 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
• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• 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
• Presumed parent: means a person who is presumed to be the parent of a child under Rhode Island General Laws 15-8.1-102
• 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
• Sign: means , with the intent to authenticate or adopt a record, to:

  (i)  Execute or adopt a tangible symbol; or

  (ii)  Attach to or logically associate with the record an electronic symbol, sound, or process. 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
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• town: may be construed to include city; the words "town council" include city council; the words "town clerk" include city clerk; the words "ward clerk" include clerk of election district; the words "town treasurer" include city treasurer; and the words "town sergeant" include city sergeant. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-9
• town council: include city council; the words "town clerk" include city clerk; the words "ward clerk" include clerk of election district; the words "town treasurer" include city treasurer; and the words "town sergeant" include city sergeant. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-9
• 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
• Witnessed: means that at least one individual is authorized to sign and has signed a record to verify that the individual personally observed a signatory sign the record. See Rhode Island General Laws 15-8.1-102