During the past few years, Oregon has quietly become a prime location for women willing to carry children for those unable to get pregnant. There are several reasons for that: lenient laws, a critical mass of successful fertility clinics and a system for amending a birth certificate pre-birth.
But surrogacy arrangements are often informal agreements, and they听. A surrogate may face unexpected medical bills, or the intended parents may change their mind.
Yet Mardi Palan is excited about becoming a surrogate, and that鈥檚 due in part to a very thorough听听she has signed governing the terms of her surrogacy. It includes Palan鈥檚 compensation, standards she must meet and a wide array of protections for her. 鈥淭he contract needs to be black and white, because there has to be some clarity at one point in the process regarding expectations,鈥� said John Chally, the director of the NorthwestSurrogacy Center in Portland, where Palan signed up.
Mardi Palan cuts a client鈥檚 hair at Gilly鈥檚 Salon in Portland. Palan plans to use the $30,000 she could get for carrying twins, for a downpayment on a home. (Photo by Kristian Foden-Vencil/Oregon Public Broadcasting)
Palan is 30 and a hair stylist. She hopes to carry twins for a gay couple from Israel. She has a partner and a 1陆-year-old son.
鈥淚 carried my son really well, and I really enjoyed being pregnant,鈥� she says. 鈥淧eople mentioned surrogacy as an option to make money on the side and do something really nice for someone else.鈥�
Palan鈥檚 contract covers what鈥檚 expected of her and a multitude of contingencies. The basics are that Palan will get about $25,000 if she successfully delivers one child, and an additional $5,000 for twins. She says she鈥檒l use it for a down payment on a home.
The contract also deals with ethical issues. It states, for example, that Palan is not selling the children, nor agreeing to terminate her parental rights. That is because none of her genetic material is involved in the pregnancy. The two eggs will come from a donor, and the sperm will come from the two fathers in Israel.
鈥淭he analogy is that I鈥檓 the soil and someone else is the seed and someone else is the water, so we come together to make the child,鈥� she says.
The contract says Palan is getting paid for 鈥渟ervices rendered鈥� and compensation for any pain and emotional distress she may suffer.
Palan鈥檚 lawyer, Marlene Findling, says it鈥檚 a good contract. 鈥淏y far the vast majority of these contracts go really smoothly. This contract does protect her.鈥�
And there鈥檚 a lot at stake. The intended parents are paying more than $100,000 for their child, or children.
Doctors will get about $45,000.
The NW Surrogacy Center will get about $23,000.
Chally wrote the contract. He says he鈥檚 tried to include every possible situation, even if it seems painfully direct 鈥� like when it says Palan will get $2,500 if she loses her uterus.
But, he adds, 鈥淎s with most of those things, those contracts don鈥檛 describe relationships between people.鈥�
Chally says he works hard to make sure surrogates aren鈥檛 turned into commodities. That takes a lot of work, because 70 percent of Chally鈥檚 clients come from overseas. He has worked with people from 23 countries.
Palan went out to breakfast and dinner with the couple from Israel. She was worried they wouldn鈥檛 like her tattoos, rainbow hair or nose stud. But they鈥檙e artists, and she says they took her appearance in stride.
Chally says it鈥檚 critical for surrogates to get along with prospective parents. He鈥檚 turned away unsociable couples seeking a surrogate.
鈥淪urrogates want to know who [the parents] are,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hey want to know what kind of relationship the two of them have. They want to see the joy in their eyes about realizing that there鈥檚 a pregnancy. They frankly want some time and attention during that process, as a manifestation of their care and concern for her, as she鈥檚 doing a truly remarkable thing for them.鈥�
The contract goes on to stipulate Palan鈥檚 behavior with requirements designed to help keep the fetus from harm.
For example, she鈥檚 subject to random drug, alcohol and nicotine testing at a clinic. She can鈥檛 clean a litter box, get a tattoo or have an X-ray.
Another interesting clause in Palan鈥檚 contract is that she has agreed not to travel across the border to Washington during her pregnancy. Washington allows surrogacy for only a limited set of reasons, and surrogacy for financial gain is illegal there.
Sister Sharon Park, of the Washington State Catholic Conference, says, 鈥淭he potential for exploitation of surrogates is huge, especially when money gets involved.鈥�
For her part, Palan feels protected and empowered by the contract. She started hormone injections July 4 and expects to have two embryos implanted in August.
This story is part of a reporting partnership with , and听.