Surrogacy and Estate Planning
I have lost count of how many times I sat down to write this blog. I have a problem you see… If what I write is not 100% authentic then I struggle to connect to the piece I am writing. I knew that if I didn’t share the reason why I, Adelle Jones, a non-surrogate and not even an active Intended Parent (IP), had written an E-Book on ‘Surrogacy and Estate Planning’ that my audience may not connect with my motive.
So, here goes…
Every parent thinks they have the most beautiful children. The difference is I am right. My child, my Lincoln, is the most beautiful child I have ever set eyes upon 🙂 He was conceived naturally after 2.5 years of trying to get pregnant. My husband and I were 6 months away from commencing IVF treatment.
To say that I suffered a traumatic birth is an understatement. I contracted sepsis as a result of my bowel perforating and almost died. The life-saving bowel surgery left me with an ileostomy (a surgically made opening on your abdominal wall, whereby your lower intestine is stitched into place and your faeces/poo is collected into a bag), also known as a stoma. As a new mother, I lived like this for 8 months. I also had to train my body to walk again after being bedridden for too long, among other complications. My extensive internal abdominal adhesion’s may still allow me to conceive naturally, but I have been advised that the internal damage is such that pregnancy may cause bowel blockages and twisting of my intestines. Simply put, there is no guarantee that I would survive another pregnancy.
Before my son’s birth, surrogacy was not a term used in our household. Now, it may be our only option to safely become a biological family of four. Because I am not able to separate ‘Adelle the person’ from ‘Adelle the lawyer’, my interest in surrogacy has also morphed in to ‘where does surrogacy fit into Estate Planning’?. What I learnt shocked me greatly and so the E-Book was born. I felt that everyone in the world of ‘Surrogacy’ should we aware of the risks of not having a valid Will prior to conception of the their unborn miracle.
If you want to learn about what happens to your assets if you die without a Will and you are either a Surrogate, IP’s or a Donor, download Haven Legal’s free E-Book here.
