Oklahoma § 10-557.10 - Required findings to validate an agreement – Court

§ 10-557.10. Required findings to validate an agreement – Court

order of validation – Review - Deficiencies.

A. A court may validate a gestational agreement only as

provided by this section.

B. A gestational agreement may be validated under the Oklahoma

Gestational Agreement Act only if the court finds by a preponderance

of the evidence that:

1. The court has jurisdiction over all parties to the

gestational agreement;

2. The parties to the gestational agreement meet all the

requirements set forth in this act for such parties and all

necessary parties to the gestational agreement have entered into the

gestational agreement;

3. The gestational agreement meets all the requirements for

gestational agreements set forth in this act;

4. The medical evidence provided shows that the intended parent

is unable to carry a pregnancy to term and give birth to a child or

is unable to carry a pregnancy to term and give birth to a child

without unreasonable risk to the intended parent's physical or

mental health or to the health of the unborn child;

5. Each party to the gestational agreement has been advised by

legal counsel in compliance with this act and has voluntarily

entered into and understands the terms of the gestational agreement;

6. The gestational carrier has given birth to at least one

child and carrying another pregnancy to term and giving birth to

another child would not pose an unreasonable risk to that child's

health or the physical or mental health of the gestational carrier;

and

7. The intended parents have made guardianship provisions for

the prospective child by amending their existing estate planning

documents or by executing estate planning documents containing such

provisions if they previously had no existing estate planning

documents.

C. If the court finds that the requirements of subsection B of

this section are satisfied, then the court shall render an order

that:

1. Validates the gestational agreement and declares that the

intended parents will be the sole parents of any child born under

the gestational agreement;

2. Orders that each intended parent who is a party to the

gestational agreement be listed as a parent on such child's

certificate of birth to be filed with the state registrar of vital

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 10. Children

statistics as provided by Oklahoma law and that neither the

gestational carrier nor any spouse of the gestational carrier shall

be listed on said certificate of birth;

3. Orders the hospital, birthing facility or any other medical

facility where such child is born to recognize the intended parents

as the legal parents of such child for all purposes immediately upon

the birth of such child; and

4. Unless the gestational agreement provides otherwise, orders

the hospital, birthing facility or any other medical facility where

such child is born to grant the intended parents the following

rights:

a.

the right to immediate custody of and access to such

child upon birth,

b.

the right to name such child,

c.

the right to make any and all health decisions

regarding such child upon birth, and

d.

the right to be designated as the people to be issued

armbands or other security devices identifying them as

the parents of such child. The gestational carrier

and any spouse of the gestational carrier shall not

receive such armbands or security devices unless it is

medically necessary for such child's welfare.

D. For good cause shown, a court may validate a gestational

agreement even though it was not validated at the time of transfer

of gametes or embryos to the gestational carrier for the purpose of

conception or implantation, provided that such gestational agreement

was entered into by all necessary parties to the gestational

agreement prior to the time of transfer of such gametes or embryos

to the gestational carrier for the purpose of conception or

implantation, and provided that the court finds that all other

requirements needed to validate a gestational agreement under this

act have been satisfied.

E. The court may rely solely on affidavits, declarations,

testimony, other competent evidence or any combination thereof in

making its determination as to whether the requirements to validate

a gestational agreement have been satisfied. A court need not

conduct an evidentiary hearing if it finds that the documentary

evidence supplied by the parties petitioning to validate a

gestational agreement is sufficient to show by a preponderance of

the evidence that the requirements to validate the agreement are

satisfied.

F. The court's determination as to whether or not the

requirements to validate a gestational agreement have been satisfied

is subject to review only for abuse of discretion.

G. If the court determines that the gestational agreement does

not meet the necessary requirements to be validated, the court shall

issue an order identifying with specificity each deficiency that it

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 10. Children

found which prevents it from validating the gestational agreement.

The parties may thereafter amend the gestational agreement or cure

any other identified deficiencies and thereafter file an amended

petition to validate the gestational agreement. The same

requirements shall apply to validating an amended gestational

agreement as would apply to validating an original gestational

agreement. The parties may amend as many times as needed to cure

any deficiencies identified by the court.

Added by Laws 2019, c. 433, § 11, emerg. eff. May 23, 2019.