Vermont Statutes Title 15 Sec. 808
Terms Used In Vermont Statutes Title 15 Sec. 808
- Assisted reproduction: means a method of causing pregnancy other than sexual intercourse and includes:
- Birth: includes stillbirth. See
- Child: means a person of any age whose parentage may be determined under this title. See
- 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.
- Gestational carrier: means an adult person who is not an intended parent and who enters into a gestational carrier agreement to bear a child conceived using the gametes of other persons and not the gestational carrier's own, except that a person who carries a child for a family member using the gestational carrier's own gametes and who fulfills the requirements of chapter 8 of this title is a gestational carrier. See
- Gestational carrier agreement: means a contract between an intended parent or parents and a gestational carrier intended to result in a live birth. See
- Intended parent: means a person, whether married or unmarried, who manifests the intent to be legally bound as a parent of a child resulting from assisted reproduction or a gestational carrier agreement. See
- Parent: means a person who has established parentage that meets the requirements of this title. See
- Parentage: means the legal relationship between a child and a parent as established under this title. See
- Person: shall include any natural person, corporation, municipality, the State of Vermont or any department, agency, or subdivision of the State, and any partnership, unincorporated association, or other legal entity. See
§ 808. Effect of noncompliance; standard of review; remedies
(a) Not enforceable. A gestational carrier agreement that does not meet the requirements of this chapter is not enforceable.
(b) Standard of review. In the event of noncompliance with the requirements of this chapter or with a gestational carrier agreement, the Family Division of the Superior Court shall determine the respective rights and obligations of the parties to the gestational carrier agreement, including evidence of the intent of the parties at the time of execution.
(c) Remedies. Except as expressly provided in a gestational carrier agreement and in subsection (d) of this section, in the event of a breach of the gestational carrier agreement by the gestational carrier or the intended parent or parents, the gestational carrier or the intended parent or parents are entitled to all remedies available at law or in equity.
(d) Genetic testing. If a person alleges that the parentage of a child born to a gestational carrier is not the result of assisted reproduction, and this question is relevant to the determination of parentage, the court may order genetic testing.
(e) Specific performance. Specific performance is not an available remedy for a breach by the gestational carrier of any term in a gestational carrier agreement that requires the gestational carrier to be impregnated or to terminate a pregnancy. Specific performance is an available remedy for a breach by the gestational carrier of any term that prevents the intended parent or parents from exercising the full rights of parentage immediately upon the birth of the child. (Added 2017, No. 162 (Adj. Sess.), § 1.)