P.M. and C.M. v. T.B. and D.B.
February 16, 2018
Case Name: P.M. and C.M. v. T.B. and D.B.Filed: February 16, 2018 by Iowa Supreme Court (No. 17-0376)Subject matter: This case includes discussion of the following:**
In a matter of first impression, the Court held gestational surrogacy contracts are enforceable under Iowa law, stating:“Banning gestational surrogacy contracts would deprive infertile couples of perhaps the only way to raise their own biological children and would limit the contractual rights of willing surrogates. We join the better-reasoned cases from other jurisdictions rejecting arguments that gestational surrogacy contracts are void against public policy.”“We do not foreclose the possibility that a surrogacy agreement in a particular case could be subject to specific contract defenses, such as fraud, duress, or unconscionability.”Affirmed the termination of presumptive parental rights of surrogate birth mother and her husband, neither of whom were the child’s genetic parent.Affirmed award of legal and physical custody to intended biological father (the pregnancy was the result of an egg from an anonymous donor fertilized in vitro by the appellee’s sperm).**Shuttleworth & Ingersoll initially represented the appellants in this matter until withdrawal before submission of appeal briefing.More Information:Iowa Supreme Court: P.M. and C.M. v. T.B. and D.B.