Is Surrogate Child-Bearing Contract Unenforceable As Contrary to Public Policy?
J.F. v. D.B. et al., Case no. 2006-0843 9th District Court of Appeals (Summit County) ISSUE: Is a gestational surrogacy contract, in which a woman accepts payment for gestating the fertilized egg of a third party donor and agrees to surrender all custody rights to the child’s biological father after the child is born, unenforceable in Ohio on the basis that such a contract violates the public policy underlying the state’s adoption and child support laws? BACKGROUND: In this case, James Flynn of Kirtland, Ohio entered into a surrogacy contract with Danielle and Douglas Bimber of Corry, PA. In the contract, which was arranged through an agency so that the parties initially did not know one another’s identities, Danielle agreed to have three eggs that had been harvested from a paid third-party donor, Jennifer Rice, and fertilized in vitro by Flynn’s sperm, implanted in her uterus. In return for a fee of $20,000 plus expenses of the pregnancy and delivery, the Bimbers agreed that Danielle
