A Legal Foundation For Your Family

Providing Knowledgeable Assistance To Donors And Parents

Couples considering starting a family using assisted reproductive technology (ART) often turn to sperm, egg, or embryo donation to help them complete their journey. Unfortunately, many families find themselves facing difficult challenges because they failed to create a plan to deal with the risks surrounding parental rights and child support that may arise when using a known or anonymous donor.

At the Maple Grove law office of Steven H. Snyder & Associates, our entire legal team is helping you and your family identify and address the issues that are common to sperm, egg, or embryo donation. We are led by attorney Steven H. Snyder who is nationally known for his work in the ART law field. We have helped more than a thousand families from across the globe, and we are confident that we will be able to help you take the measures necessary to grow and protect your family.

Working With Your Family To Prepare For The Future

We realize that this an exciting time in your life. Our main goal is to inform and prepare you for the unexpected legal issues that often arise in assisted reproductive technology. Some of the most common donor issues that we see include:

  • Sperm donation: While there are statutes that cover sperm donors, they are limited in scope and there may be unintended parentage consequences if certain matters are not addressed. The parental rights of the second parent are only automatically established if the required consent forms are signed, and not all medical clinics provide them. In addition, many parties are now opting for home insemination. While we do not recommend this process, we can identify and help you evaluate the additional risks it creates. We help you create the necessary documents and agreements that reflect your actual wishes and protect you from unintended legal consequences.
  • Egg donation: Fertility clinics often misinform potential donors and parents about their specific legal rights. In turn, parents may also misunderstand the effect or legality of certain documents that they or the donors may sign. An egg donor’s legal parental rights are not terminated by clinic consent forms or signed donor agreements unless the parentage law of the relevant state also terminates those rights, and most do not. We help both parents and donors with questions concerning egg donation.
  • Embryo donation: Perhaps the biggest questions concerning embryo donation involve known versus anonymous donors and embryo donation versus embryo adoption. We explain how Minnesota and other states treat embryo donors and parents, and help you devise a strategy that protects you and your family.

The laws regarding sperm, egg and embryo donation are constantly changing, and differ dramatically from state to state. We identify the risks that are specific to your situation and help you understand what these risks may mean to you and the resulting child’s future. We are committed to providing you with a comprehensive overview of the issues that you must address before you move forward so that you can feel confident your legal needs and obligations are resolved.

Create A Sound Foundation For Your Family’s Future

Whether or not you become our client, we want you to know exactly what sort of challenges you may experience throughout the process. To speak to one of our lawyers, please call 612-504-6499 or send us an email to schedule a free, no-obligation consultation.

There is no charge for your initial conference. If you subsequently decide to hire us, we will discuss a reasonable fee, and if that fee meets with your approval you may hire us on those terms. If you elect not to hire us, there will be no amount due.