F.A.Q. for Family Law

Surrogacy FAQ:

Are Surrogacy Agreements enforceable in Nevada?

• Nevada law provides that two persons who are legally married may enter into a contract with a surrogate for assisted conception. The embryo implanted must be the egg and sperm of the wife and husband. The birth certificate must reflect the wife and husband as mother and father.

Can we use a donor egg or donor sperm?

• While other states have statutes that consider this possibility, Nevada does not. The Nevada Supreme Court has not had occasion to rule on the issue of maternity or paternity of surrogates or donors, or of their legal rights. Until we are given direction otherwise, diligence requires that parental rights of donors are terminated and that an adoption occur to legalize the intended parental relationship.

How much can a Surrogate be paid?

• Nevada law provides that it is unlawful to pay or offer to pay money or anything of value to a surrogate, except for the medical and necessary living expenses related to the birth of the child.

Birth Parent FAQ:

Do I get to choose the family?

• Yes. Every birth mother has the right to choose whom she will consider as the adoptive parents of the baby to be born to her. If you call our office, you will be asked to answer some questions that help us determine what you are looking for in an adoptive family. Is a single parent acceptable, or would you prefer a couple? Is a same sex home acceptable? What religions are acceptable to you? Do you prefer a stay at home parent, or is it acceptable that both parents have careers? Can the adoptive parents have other children?

Can I meet the adoptive family?

• Yes. You have an absolute right to meet the adoptive family. It proves to give both the birth mother and the adoptive parents a better feeling about the process when they have met and actually participate together in the pregnancy.

Do I have to talk to a social worker?

• Yes, unless this is a relative adoption. Nevada law requires a licensed child placing agency to be involved in every adoption in which the birth mother and one of the adoptive parents is not related within two degrees of consanguinity. Once you have chosen the adoptive family, we contact one of the licensed agencies and give them information on how to contact you to set up a meeting. Nevada law does not permit home studies to be released to attorneys, so it is the case worker assigned to you that will answer any further questions you have about the family you chose, your counseling needs, and the process.

What information am I entitled to?

• In a specific adoption, i.e., one in which you have chosen the adoptive family, you are entitled to read their home study prepared by the licensed agency. You have a right to full disclosure. This includes their legal names, ages, religion, marital status, length of current marriage, number of children, education, employment, medical condition, financial condition and whether there is any arrest history.

Who pays expenses?

• Nevada law allows for the payment of "reasonable" expenses by the adoptive parents. These include pregnancy related medical and hospital expenses not covered by insurance or Medicaid, any living expenses during the period a birth mother is unable to work due to the pregnancy, including a short period of time thereafter, all agency fees, and all legal fees.

What if I want pictures or other information assuring me that my child is doing fine?

• Nevada law provides for Post-Placement Contact Agreements. Most birth mothers like a picture and a letter as to how the child is doing at some point up to a year after birth. A few birth mothers want annual updates. Most adoptive parents are agreeable to this type of communication. It is often done through the agency.

What if I want my child to be able to find me in the future?

• Nevada has a Birth Parent Registry. At the time you sign your Consent or Relinquishment, you have the right to complete a Registry form. If, upon attaining the age of 18, or thereafter, the child also wants to find you, the child can complete a Registry form. When both have made this request, contact information is made available.

Adoptive Parents FAQ:

What types of adoptions do you do?

1. Independent adoptions: Where the birth mother personally chooses the adoptive parents, either through personal knowledge or with the assistance of others;

2. Agency adoptions: Where the birth mother or the adoptive parents work with a licensed child placing agency and the adoptive parents are known or identified by the birth mother;

3. Traditional adoptions: Where the birth mother relinquishes her parental rights to a licensed child placing agency and has no knowledge of the adoptive parents;

4. International adoptions: Where the adoptive parents have either adopted a child from a foreign country or had a child placed with them from a foreign country.

What is an Open Adoption?

• An Open Adoption is when birth parents and adoptive parents have had the opportunity to meet prior to the birth of the baby. They have the opportunity to discuss financial needs and contact wishes, both pre birth and post birth. Usually this process involves the assistance of the attorney and the case worker from the licensed child placing agency.

How long before you find me a birth mother?

• There is no way to predict this because until we know your parameters, for example, is there a race restriction, or location restriction, or financial restriction, we cannot tell you how long. The average waiting time is from three months to eighteen months. Because Nevada does not permit attorneys to accept legal fees for the placement of children, and because advertising for children is not allowed in Nevada, many birth mothers are directed out of state. More than half of the babies that are placed with our clients are located by our clients whom we advise how to be proactive in the search process. Networking is critical and it speeds up the search process considerably.

How much will this cost?

• Nevada law allows for the payment of "reasonable" expenses by the adoptive parents. These include pregnancy related medical and hospital expenses not covered by insurance or Medicaid, any living expenses during the period a birth mother is unable to work due to the pregnancy, including a short period of time thereafter, all agency fees, and all legal fees.

What makes your office right for me?

• Ishi Kunin has been involved with adoptions since her first job as a lawyer when she worked as a Deputy Attorney General for the Welfare Division terminating the parental rights of parents who abused and neglected their children. It is her passion. Nevada law limits her ability to do adoptions full time as lawyers in other states do. She is a member of the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys and the author of the Adoption and Termination of Parental Rights sections of the Nevada Family Law Practice Manual