(a)

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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 36-2-403

  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Donor: The person who makes a gift.
  • Embryo parentage: means the acceptance of rights and responsibilities for an embryo by a recipient intended parent. See Tennessee Code 36-2-402
  • Embryo transfer: means the medical procedure of physically placing an embryo into the uterus of a female recipient intended parent. See Tennessee Code 36-2-402
  • Legal embryo custodian: means the person or entity, including an embryo transfer clinic, who hold the legal rights and responsibilities for a human embryo and who relinquishes said embryo to another person. See Tennessee Code 36-2-402
  • legal transfer of rights to an embryo: means the relinquishment of rights and responsibilities by the person or persons who hold the legal rights and responsibilities for an embryo. See Tennessee Code 36-2-402
  • Parent: means the biological mother or biological father of a child, regardless of the marital status of the mother and father. See Tennessee Code 36-2-302
  • Recipient intended parent: means a person or persons who receive a relinquished embryo and who accepts full legal rights and responsibilities for such embryo and any child that may be born as a result of embryo transfer. See Tennessee Code 36-2-402
  • signed: includes a mark, the name being written near the mark and witnessed, or any other symbol or methodology executed or adopted by a party with intention to authenticate a writing or record, regardless of being witnessed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • written: includes printing, typewriting, engraving, lithography, and any other mode of representing words and letters. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(1) A legal embryo custodian may relinquish all rights and responsibilities for an embryo prior to embryo transfer. A written contract shall be entered into as appropriate when establishing embryo parentage prior to embryo transfer for the legal transfer of rights to an embryo and to any child that may result from the embryo transfer:

(A) Between legal embryo custodians and the embryo transfer clinic; or
(B) Between a legal embryo custodian and each recipient intended parent.
(2) The contract shall be signed, as appropriate, by each legal embryo custodian for such embryo, by the embryo transfer clinic or by each recipient intended parent in the presence of a notary public. Initials or other designations may be used if the individuals desire anonymity.
(b) If the embryo was created using donor gametes, the sperm or oocyte donors who irrevocably relinquished their rights in connection with in vitro fertilization shall not be entitled to any notice of the embryo relinquishment, nor shall their consent to the embryo relinquishment be required.
(c) Upon embryo relinquishment by each legal embryo custodian pursuant to subsection (a), the legal transfer of rights to an embryo shall be considered complete at the time of thawing or to such other time as the parties may agree, and the embryo transfer shall be authorized.
(d) A child born to a recipient intended parent as the result of embryo relinquishment pursuant to subsection (a) shall be presumed to be the legal child of the recipient intended parent; provided, that each legal embryo custodian and each recipient intended parent has entered into a written contract pursuant to this part.
(e) Any and all prior legal embryo custodians whose donation of an embryo has resulted in the birth of a child to a recipient intended parent pursuant to subsection (a) shall have no rights or responsibilities with such child and of the child to them.
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