Provided By: www.stonewall.org.uk/documents/parenting__coparenting.pdf

Parenting agreements

If you have decided to enter into a co-parenting arrangement, you should consider putting in place
a parenting agreement to set out what you have agreed regarding the upbringing of your child.
Though a parenting agreement is not strictly legally binding (remember that a court always has
the power to act in your child’s best interests), it would be persuasive evidence if a dispute did
arise.

Perhaps more importantly, the process of preparing the agreement encourages you to consider all
the issues at the outset, and this can prevent disputes from arising later on.
You can prepare a parenting agreement yourselves, or ask a solicitor to do it for you. Either way,
it should cover the following issues:

• Financial responsibilities
• Legal responsibilities, including what will go on the birth certificate, and legal
applications (such as parental responsibility, joint residence and adoption) that will be
made after the birth
• Residence and contact
• Anything else you want to mention (e.g. future siblings, decision-making during the
conception and pregnancy, where you will all live)

Provided by: http://www.channel4.com/health/microsites/0-9/4health/sex/lgb_babies.html

what is it?

Surrogacy is where a woman bears a child for a couple who are unable to have a child of their own. The surrogate mother might use her own eggs or have another woman's egg implanted in her womb. If a gay couple is using a surrogate mother, the egg can be fertilised by either man's sperm. Surrogate mothers must not be paid for their services in the UK and can only be provided with reasonable expenses.

who is doing it?

Although gay men could benefit greatly from this service, surrogate agencies in the UK don't help gay couples. The reason they give for this is that prospective parents need to qualify for a Parental Order in order to be seen as taking part in a surrogacy agreement – and this is only possible if you are married. Despite this, some do offer their services to unmarried heterosexual couples, allowing them to adopt the child from the surrogate.

The only option currently open to gay couples is for them to go to a commercial surrogate agency in the US.

what do you have to do?

1. Go to the US, making sure you pack a large chequebook. Some commercial surrogate agencies, such as Growing Generations, specialise in helping gay couples have children. It could cost you hundreds of thousands of pounds, however – so be prepared.
2. Alternatively, ask a friend. This is a big ask and legally ambiguous. It could also be fraught with difficulties. Even if a friend cares enough about you to agree, she might feel differently when the baby arrives.
3. Once the baby is born, the surrogate mother will have all legal rights to him or her. This legal issues can be addressed by the natural father being named on the birth certificate or the prospective parents adopting the child.
pros and cons
The biggest barrier to surrogacy is cost. Even if you do have the money, you will face other hurdles, not least the fact that your surrogate mother could choose to keep your child when it is born.
The big advantage to this route for gay couples is that surrogacy allows you to have a genetically related child, without the involvement of a 'third' parent or having to enter a co-parenting agreement.

[b]What is it?[/b]
Co-parenting is when people who arent in a conventional relationship pair up to have a child. A man will donate sperm via natural or artificial insemination, when a baby is concieved and born both sides share responsibility and custody of their child. The matches can be between gay or straight couples, with or for single gay/straight or lesbian men or women.

[b]Who's doing it?[/b]
The main market for co-parenting is gay men and women aswell as infertile couples. There really is no limit to who can do it and for what.

[b]What do you have to do?[/b]
First and foremost you will need to choose a co-parent. From there you must agree on custody and moral guidance for the childs upbringing. Its vital that both sides of the match have similar values and can comprimise on key issues.

Contacting a solicitor is also a major step. Both sides must have out a number of legal considerations with the arrangements. As both the natural father and mother will be treated as unmarried parents, which can cause a few problems if the co-parents fall out.

Heal checks are also a vital factor to consider. Both sides need to be healthy and it would be wise to consider family genetic history.

[b]Things to consider[/b]
The children will have 2 doting parents who will care for them, with a possible 4 parents (two from each side).
Neither side will have sole custody (unless agreed to legally). There is dificulty of who agrees to housing the child and how often each side see's the child.

1) You must be at least 18 years of age to use this site.

2) The purpose of this site is to help singles and /or couples become parents by helping people find a co-parent, sperm donor or sperm recipient. Surrogacy is not permitted to be advertised on this site – The Surrogacy Arrangements Act 1985 forbids any form of advertising within the UK.

3) If members are wishing to seek such advertisements from overseas through this site we would recommend you seek /contact a lawyer before any form of correspondence / arrangements are agreed to. Babymatchmaker.co.uk will not be held responsible or accountable for any such actions that arise from surrogacy arrangements.

4) We will not be held responsible for any repercussions resulting from posting or responding to an advert on this site.

5) We reserves the right to reject any advert if it is deemed to be inappropriate or be used for malicious purposes.

6) We reserves the right to increase or decrease the membership rates as and when we decide without any prior notice.

7) Any personal information you share with other users or this website is by your own doing. We can not be held responsible for any problems that may arise due to this.

8) We take no responsibily if users are scammed by a falsely advertised site. Members are advised not to share bank details, exchange money or arrange payments without the oversight of a lawyer or solicitor.

9) Any advertising done via message, profile, interaction via the website is against the rules. We reserve the right to delete the profile, messages or contact information immediately.

10) Members may delete their profile but not there user account. After two years of inactivity we will remove your user account.

11) We recommend that you consult with your doctor regarding any pre insemination screening tests.

12) When carrying out home insemination please ensure that you either gain medical advice from a professional or you clearly follow any health & safety guidelines regarding this procedure. We will not be held liable for any health or medical complications that may occur.

13) We recommends that members consider undertaking a Criminal Records Bureau check on any user they want to deal with.

Exerts provided by: www.channel4.com/health/microsites/0-9/4health/sex/lgb_babies.html

What is it?
Donor insemination is the process of a man donating sperm so that a woman can inseminate herself. This can be done privately or in a clinic.

Who is doing it?
Lesbians and heterosexual couples with fertility problems. Single women. Gay or straight men who do not want an active role in the child's life often donate sperm, as do men who only want a limited role as an 'uncle' figure.

What do you have to do?
Choose a sperm donor carefully. This could be a friend or an anonymous donor from a clinic.
Get rigorous health checks before going ahead with any pregnancy. There are many lesbian-friendly clinics with banks of donor sperm available. All sperm in this situation is screened for Sexually Transmitted Infections, including HIV.

If you are self inseminating, you will need a kit. You can buy these from support and advice groups like Pink Parents or the Lesbian and Gay Co-Parenting Programme

Contact a solicitor. Your legal position will differ depending on whether your children are conceived in a regulated clinic or a private arrangement

Exerts provided by: www.stonewall.org.uk/documents/parenting__coparenting.pdf

In the unfortunate situation you cannot agree something in relation to the care of your child, either parent can make an application to the court for:

- A residence order, to determine who should have main care of your child,

- A contact order, to determine the access that the other parents have to your child, or

- A specific issue or prohibited steps order, if you need the court to resolve a particular issue or to stop a particular action being taken by one of your child’s parents.

The relevant court application can be made by any of your child’s four parents against any of the others. The birth mother and biological father have an automatic right to apply to court. In certain circumstances and if they do not have parental responsibility for your child, the non-birth mother and non-biological father may need to first ask the court’s permission before making an application.

The court will decide what is in your child’s best interests. If you have a co-parenting agreement, it is one of the factors the court will take into account.

Coming soon.

Exerts provided by: www.stonewall.org.uk/documents/parenting__coparenting.pdf

The information provided in this guide is designed to provide general legal information. It is not intended to be an exhaustive statement of the law nor a substitute for seeking legal advice on your own circumstances. BabyMatchMaker.co.uk cannot accept any liability for the information given and recommends you seek legal advice from your own solicitor regarding your own co-parenting agreement.

In co-parenting cases, the birth mother and biological father will be the child’s legal parents, whether conceived at home or through a licensed clinic. Though he is the legal father, the biological father will only have parental responsibility for your
child if he is named on the birth certificate.

To be registered on the birth certificate, the father must be physically present at the birth registration together with the birth mother.

If the father is not named on the birth certificate, he can acquire parental responsibility later, either by signing a parental responsibility agreement with the birth mother, or (perhaps if she does not agree) by applying to court for a parental responsibility order.

The desire to have your own child can be extremely strong, however that are alternates to consider. The legality of gay and lesbians adopting and fostering has changed dramatically in the last few years.

There was a change in law implited in 2005 which now allows unmarried couples to adopt which therefore includes gay and lesbian couples. In 2006+2007 there we only 90 same sex couples in England who adopted.

For help and advice visit the UK's official Fostering & Adoption website: [url=http://www.baaf.org.uk]British Association for Adoption & Fostering[/url].