HELPING BUILD FAMILIES SINCE 2012
California Fertility & Surrogacy Lawyers
FSLG focuses on fertility, surrogacy and third-party reproduction. We assist intended parents, gestational carriers, egg, sperm and embryo donors, as well as agencies and clinics involved in family-building journeys in California. For families whose journeys cross state or national borders, we can also help identify how different jurisdictions may affect agreements, parentage and post-birth documentation.
Since 2012
Helping Build Families
Multi-State
Licensed Attorneys
100% Focused
Reproductive Law
Worldwide
Support & Coordination
Your Fertility & Surrogacy Attorneys
Rich Geisler
Principal & Founder
Erin O. Allen
Senior Associate Attorney
Megan Gruter
Associate Attorney
David Hinton
Associate Attorney
Who We Represent in California
Our role is not simply to prepare paperwork
We are here to help you understand the legal path before you make important decisions and to keep the legal pieces coordinated with your clinic, agency, surrogate, donor and other professionals involved in the journey.
Intended Parents
Understand the agreements, parentage steps and legal decisions needed to move from planning through birth with a clearer legal framework.
Gestational Carriers & Surrogates
Receive independent legal representation to understand your agreement, responsibilities, compensation provisions, medical-decision terms and other rights before signing.
Egg, Sperm & Embryo Donors
Create clear agreements addressing intent, responsibilities, confidentiality, future contact and the legal relationship between donor and intended family.
LGBTQ+ & Single Intended Parents
Plan for parentage based on your specific family structure, use of donor material and the jurisdictions involved in your journey.
International Intended Parents
Coordinate U.S. fertility-law requirements with birth records, passports, travel documentation and home-country legal considerations.
Agencies, Clinics & Donor Programs
Support agreements, forms and legal processes that help keep professional and client expectations clear from the beginning.
When Should You Connect with a Fertility Lawyer?
Agencies, clinics, donor programs and surrogacy arrangements can introduce contracts, consent forms and legal deadlines at different points in the journey. An experienced fertility lawyer can help you identify the legal steps early enough so that they can be handled in the right order.
1
Before choosing an arrangement
Which state's laws may apply to the people involved?
2
Before signing agency/clinic documents
Do the documents align with your legal plan and intentions?
3
Before signing a donor/surrogacy agreement
Are rights, responsibilities, financial terms and important contingencies clear?
4
Before embryo transfer
Have the legal prerequisites for the arrangement been completed?
5
During pregnancy
When should the parentage process begin?
6
Before birth or international travel
What court orders, records, certificates, or travel documents may be needed?
Fertility and Surrogacy Legal Solutions in California
Gestational Surrogacy Agreements
We draft and review agreements that define the intended parents' and gestational carrier's rights, responsibilities and expectations before the medical process moves forward.
Parentage & Pre-/Post-Birth Orders
We help intended parents obtain court judgments establishing legal parentage before or after birth and coordinate the resulting hospital and vital-record documentation.
Egg Donation Agreements
We prepare and review egg donation agreements designed to clearly document the parties' intent, responsibilities and expectations.
Sperm Donation Agreements
Known and directed sperm donation arrangements can raise important parentage and relationship questions. We help document the parties' intentions clearly.
Embryo Donation & Disposition
We assist with agreements addressing embryo donation, disposition, future use and the legal intentions of the people involved.
Hospital & Vital Records
We coordinate legal parentage documentation with hospitals and vital-record offices, including birth-registration paperwork, birth certificates and, when applicable, apostilles and related post-birth documentation.
Escrow & Financial Management
FSLG provides funds-management support for applicable fertility and surrogacy arrangements, helping parties manage financial obligations through a structured process.
International & Cross-Border Family Building
When intended parents, surrogates, donors, or treatment providers are in different states or countries, we help coordinate the legal steps and documentation that intersect across jurisdictions.
Why You Need an Experienced California Fertility Lawyer
Update: Effective July 1, 2026, California introduced statewide SUR-series court forms and Rule 5.78 for parentage proceedings involving gestational carrier agreements, creating a more standardized process for seeking a parentage judgment.
Building a family through assisted reproduction involves more than medical decisions. Agreements, parental rights, donor arrangements and the laws that apply to your journey.
Fertility and reproductive law sits at the intersection of family law, contracts, assisted reproductive technology, medical treatment and legal parentage. That is why choosing an attorney who regularly works within this field matters.
Separate Legal Counsel Matters
For a California gestational carrier agreement governed by Family Code §7962, the intended parent or parents and the gestational carrier must be represented by separate independent licensed attorneys before the written agreement is executed.
It helps ensure that each side receives independent advice before accepting the terms of the arrangement.
Agreement Comes Before Transfer
California law also requires the gestational carrier agreement to be fully executed before the parties proceed with an embryo transfer or begin injectable medication in preparation for that transfer.
For intended parents and surrogates, this is one reason legal counsel should become involved well before the medical timeline reaches transfer.
Parentage can be Addressed Through the Court
In many uncontested gestational-carrier parentage matters, an in-person hearing is not required. California law provides for the judgment or order to issue without further hearing or evidence when the statutory requirements are satisfied, although a judge may require a hearing in appropriate circumstances.
California's statute allows an action establishing the parent-child relationship in a qualifying gestational carrier arrangement to be filed before birth. A compliant agreement can support a court judgment establishing the intended parent or parents as the child's legal parent or parents.
Donor Arrangements Have Their Own Parentage Rules
California Family Code §7613 addresses parentage in assisted reproduction involving donated sperm, eggs and embryos. The legal result can depend on the type of donation, how it occurs, the parties' written intentions and the facts of the arrangement.
That is why known-donor and other third-party reproduction arrangements should not rely on assumptions about biology alone.
Do I Need a Fertility Lawyer Near Me in California?
Not necessarily.
Many parts of a fertility or surrogacy legal matter such as consultations, document review, agreement negotiations and coordination with other professionals - can be handled without repeated in-person meetings.
What matters more is whether your attorney is appropriately licensed for the work involved and understands assisted reproduction, the relevant state's legal requirements and how the different pieces of your journey fit together.
FSLG is headquartered in San Diego and our team boasts some of the best-known California-licensed attorneys. Depending on the facts and jurisdictions involved, our team assists clients located throughout California as well as intended parents who live elsewhere but have a California connection to their family-building journey.
What Families Say About Working With FSLG
California Family-Building Resources
Looking for more details before speaking with an attorney? These California-specific resources explain individual parts of the legal process in greater depth.
California Surrogacy Laws & Requirements
Understand the legal framework surrounding California surrogacy, agreements and the protections that shape a gestational carrier journey.
How California Establishes Parentage in Surrogacy
Learn how parentage is addressed when a child is born through a surrogacy arrangement and why legal planning before birth matters.
Understanding Surrogacy Contracts in California
Learn why the gestational carrier agreement is a foundational part of the journey and what legal issues need to be addressed before the medical process moves ahead.
Understanding Pre-Birth Orders in California
See how a pre-birth parentage order fits into the California surrogacy process and how it relates to birth and hospital documentation.
Surrogacy, Same-Sex Couples & Child Custody in California
Explore California family-law considerations that may be especially relevant to LGBTQ+ parents using assisted reproduction.
What Makes California One of the Best States for Surrogacy?
Understand why California is frequently selected for gestational surrogacy journeys and which legal protections make careful planning possible.
Frequently Asked Questions About California Reproductive Attorneys
When should I contact a California fertility lawyer?
Ideally, speak with counsel before signing documents or reaching a legal milestone that depends on an agreement being complete. That can mean before committing to a surrogacy arrangement, signing donor documents, completing important agency or clinic paperwork, or moving toward embryo transfer. Early guidance gives your attorney time to understand the parties and jurisdictions involved and help place the required legal steps in the right order.
Why do I need a California fertility attorney before signing a surrogacy agreement?
For a gestational carrier agreement governed by California Family Code §7962, the surrogate and intended parent or parents must have separate independent licensed attorneys before executing the written agreement. The agreement must be fully executed before an embryo-transfer procedure, or injectable medication in preparation for transfer begins.
Does my fertility lawyer need to be located near me?
Not always. Many fertility-law matters can involve remote consultations, electronic document review, and coordination with clinics, agencies, and other attorneys. The more important questions are whether the lawyer is appropriately licensed for the work being performed and has experience with the fertility, surrogacy, or reproductive-law issues affecting your arrangement. FSLG is headquartered in San Diego and includes active California attorneys. We offer remote consultation and support across the nation.
What does a California surrogacy attorney handle?
Depending on the representation, a surrogacy attorney may help with legal strategy, gestational carrier agreements, communication with other counsel and professionals, parentage proceedings, hospital documentation, vital records, and post-birth documentation. The exact scope depends on whether the attorney represents the intended parents, gestational carrier, or another party and on the jurisdictions involved.
Can FSLG represent intended parents outside California using a California surrogate?
Yes. Intended parents do not necessarily need to live in the same state as their gestational carrier. California's gestational-surrogacy statute provides several possible venue connections for a parentage action, but interstate and international arrangements should be assessed individually because another jurisdiction's laws may also matter. Our multi-state license allows us to represent families from outside California. Even if we are not licensed in your state, we can help you find the right support through our nationwide counsel network and partnerships.
Do intended parents and surrogates need separate attorneys in California?
Yes, for gestational carrier agreements governed by California Family Code §7962. Before the written agreement is executed, the gestational carrier and the intended parent or parents must be represented by separate independent licensed attorneys of their choosing. Independent representation helps ensure that each side receives legal advice focused on their own rights and responsibilities.
Can a fertility lawyer help with parentage and birth certificates?
Yes. Parentage work is an important part of many assisted-reproduction matters. FSLG assists with pre- and post-birth parentage orders and also provides hospital and vital-record support connected with implementing parentage documentation and obtaining the records families may need after birth.
How much does a California surrogacy attorney cost?
Legal fees depend on the services required and the complexity of the journey. Agreement work, independent representation, parentage proceedings, vital records, international coordination, and other services may involve different legal costs.
Are California ART Laws Friendly To The LGBTQ+ Community?
The California Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) laws expand the right to surrogacy to individuals and couples in the LGBTQ+ community. We help same-sex couples and individuals in the LGBTQ+ community build the family they desire.