(a)(1)  If a gestational carrier agreement satisfies the requirements of this article, the intended parent or parents are the parent or parents of the resulting child and parental rights and responsibilities shall vest exclusively in the intended parent or parents 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)  An individual 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 subsections (a)(1) and (a)(2) of this section, if genetic testing indicates a genetic relationship between the gestational carrier and the child and the child was not conceived pursuant to a gestational carrier agreement with a family member, then parentage shall be determined by the family court pursuant to articles 1 through 6 of this chapter.

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Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 15-8.1-803

  • Birth: includes stillbirth and fetal death. 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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

(b)  If, due to a laboratory or clinical 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 and not the gestational carrier and the carrier’s spouse, if any, subject to any other claim of parentage.

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