Helping People Become Families Through Surrogacy

Family Law and Surrogacy Attorney Charlotte Danciu discusses her 35 years of experience bringing people together to create families.

Key Takeaways:

• Surrogacy attorneys, like Attorney Danciu, streamline the process, potentially protecting your money by eliminating the need for a surrogacy agency.An experienced attorney eliminates many potential issues by rejecting potential surrogacy candidates that aren’t up for the task and matching intended families with their ideal candidates based on shared interests.

• With a one-stop-shop approach, intended families can focus on what matters while leaving the surrogacy attorney to handle the business matters of finding the suitable surrogate, executing the contract, and serving as the escrow.
• Skilled surrogacy attorneys reduce the stress of surrogacy by acting as mediator and advocate for their clients.

Becoming A Family Is Attainable

The miracle of having a child is possible, but you must do your research and go to the proper sources. Unfortunately, many unscrupulous people will take advantage of you. People are so desperate to be parents it makes it easier to be taken advantage of, especially with surrogacy.

In Florida, there is no licensing for surrogacy agencies. The only people licensed in surrogacy are lawyers. If you go to an agency, they have no license and therefore no accountability. I meet people that have sent $30,000 or $40,000 to some so-called agency and still don’t have a surrogate 18 months later. It is terrible to take advantage of people when they are vulnerable.

If you’re considering surrogacy or adoption, you need to go to someone reputable and ideally a licensed attorney. Other states may have licensing for agencies, but you should avoid going to an agency in Florida. You’ve already been through the pain of not being able to have a child. You don’t need more pain added to the process. You need an attorney with experience helping people become families.

How It All Started

I’ve been practicing family law since 1984, always focusing on children and helping to create families. I began with adoption, then around 1991, I started exploring other areas – surrogacy had just become popular. It started with egg donation, then evolved into surrogacy.

In my first case involving IFV in 1993, they put eight embryos in, hoping one would take – now they rarely put in more than one. What I see in my practice, for around 95% of my clients, IVF works on the first try. As reproductive endocrinologists started becoming more successful with the IVF process, my practice shifted from a few surrogacy cases to being my primary focus.

I saw a tremendous desire of families to have someone carry a baby for them that was genetically theirs. These families also desire to have more control over the child’s health. With adoption, you don’t have the same authority.

A lot of people adopt to save a child in the world, but many more adopt because they can’t have a child of their own. With adoption, a birth mom will do what she has always done, and it may not be a healthy child when it’s born. With surrogacy, you have control over those choices, and you have a genetic link to the child.

As the technology advanced, I saw the need for surrogacy grow. I’ve always been interested in obstetrics and the medical process of reproduction. At the time, nobody else was interested in practicing surrogacy law, as with my adoptions. As the practice evolved, I became involved with the legislative process in crafting the regulations for both adoption and surrogacy. No one else has contracts like I have, nor the experience.

Generally, it’s an enjoyable practice. No matter what a surrogate mother gets paid, it’s a tremendous sacrifice and a gift she gives this family. I look for clients that are mutually respectful of each other. If the intended parents don’t appreciate this gift or indicate this is just a business deal and don’t appreciate what this woman is doing for them, I won’t work with them.

I love babies, children, and families. I love helping people become families. The personal rewards gained from helping with adoption and surrogacy are just tremendous. Watching the joy people get from adoption and surrogacy is amazing. I feel blessed to be practicing this area of law.

For more information on Experience in Handling Florida Surrogacy Cases, a free initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you seek by calling (561) 330-6700 today.