Vermont Statutes Title 15 Sec. 803
Terms Used In Vermont Statutes Title 15 Sec. 803
- Birth: includes stillbirth. See
- Child: means a person of any age whose parentage may be determined under this title. See
- 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
- 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 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
- 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
§ 803. Parentage; parental rights and responsibilities
(a)(1) If a gestational carrier agreement satisfies the requirements of this chapter, the intended parent or parents are the parent or parents of the resulting child immediately upon the birth of the child, and the resulting child is considered the child of the intended parent or parents immediately upon the birth of the child. Neither the gestational carrier nor the gestational carrier’s spouse, if any, is the parent of the resulting child.
(2) A person who is determined to be a parent of the resulting child is obligated to support the child. The breach of the gestational carrier agreement by the intended parent or parents does not relieve the intended parent or parents of the obligation to support the resulting child.
(3) Notwithstanding subdivisions (1) and (2) of this subsection, if genetic testing indicates a genetic relationship between the gestational carrier and the child, parentage shall be determined by the Family Division of the Superior Court pursuant to chapters 1 through 6 of this title.
(b) Parental rights and responsibilities shall vest exclusively in the intended parent or parents immediately upon the birth of the resulting child.
(c) If due to a laboratory error, the resulting child is not genetically related to either the intended parent or parents or any donor who donated to the intended parent or parents, the intended parent or parents are considered the parent or parents of the child. (Added 2017, No. 162 (Adj. Sess.), § 1.)