H.R. 7040: Stopping Adversarial Foreign Exploitation of Kids In Domestic Surrogacy Act

This bill, titled the Stopping Adversarial Foreign Exploitation of Kids In Domestic Surrogacy Act, aims to address issues surrounding surrogacy contracts involving foreign individuals from countries deemed adversarial to the United States. The following points outline its main provisions and objectives:

Findings

• The bill asserts that citizens from countries of concern exploit U.S. commercial surrogacy laws.
• It notes that many developed nations prohibit international commercial surrogacy, while the U.S. currently allows citizens from these countries to solicit and compensate financially distressed Americans to act as surrogates.
• The legislation acknowledges a national security threat related to surrogacy, including concerns about human trafficking, as highlighted by incidents reported in Arcadia, California.

Purposes

The primary goals of the bill include:

• Recognizing the exploitation of American women in surrogacy agreements by foreign nationals.
• Invalidating surrogacy contracts between prospective parents from foreign entities of concern and U.S. surrogates.
• Establishing criminal penalties for surrogacy brokers that facilitate these invalid agreements.

Definitions

Key terms defined in the bill include:

• Foreign entity of concern: A foreign nation identified under specific U.S. security laws.
• Prospective parent: Someone who enters into a surrogacy agreement intending to become the legal parent of a child.
• Surrogacy agreement: Any contract where a surrogate agrees to become pregnant and relinquish parental rights to the child.
• Surrogacy broker: An individual or entity that facilitates surrogacy agreements.
• Surrogate parent: A person who gives birth to a child and agrees to hand over parental rights to others.

Invalidation of Certain Contracts

The legislation would render surrogacy agreements void if they involve:

• A surrogate parent in the U.S. who is matched with a foreign prospective parent from a country of concern.
• A surrogacy broker facilitating an agreement with such a foreign prospective parent.

However, there is an exception for agreements involving two married prospective parents, at least one of whom is a U.S. citizen or permanent resident.

Criminal Penalties

Surrogacy brokers who knowingly or recklessly assist in forming invalid surrogacy agreements would face fines and potential imprisonment of up to one year.

Custody of Children

For children born under surrogacy agreements deemed void and unenforceable, custody decisions would prioritize the best interests of the child based on state law, disregarding any agreements indicating otherwise.

Relevant Companies