AGO Opinion Topics: SURROGATE PARENT AGREEMENTS

1.Surrogate parent agreements in general are not unlawful in Washington.2.It is not lawful for a person, in return for money or other valuable consideration, to serve as a broker or otherwise arrange or facilitate a surrogate parenting agreement, unless the person is an agency certified or licensed by the Department of Social and Health Services as a child-placing agency or as an adoption agency, or unless the only payment is reimbursement or prenatal hospital or medical expenses involved in the birth of the child, or attorneys' fees and court costs involved in transfer of child custody.3.A surrogate parenting agreement is not enforceable against a surrogate mother who withdraws her consent to relinquish her court approval of the consent.