Legal, citizenship & paperwork
Parentage orders, passports, apostilles and flying home.
10 articles
Before Signing With an Agency – 10 Contract Clauses You Must Fully Understand
The first contract you sign – and the one read least carefully. Ten critical clauses and two golden rules before signing with an agency.
The Israeli Judicial Parentage Order – Completing Your Family on Paper Too (and Why the First 90 Days Are Critical)
In the state's eyes one of you is still a legal stranger to his child – and a 90-day clock enables retroactive parentage from birth.
From Birth to Registration in Israel – The U.S. Judgment, the Passport and the DNA Test, Step by Step
Parentage judgment, apostille, U.S. passport, ETA-IL and a DNA test done back in Israel – the full route, step by step, no myths.
Medical Decisions From Afar – You're in Israel, the Doctor Is in Ohio. Who Decides?
Who decides in a pregnancy an ocean away? The principle to understand before signing, and the form most parents don't know exists.
Your Surrogate Asks for Something Not in the Contract – Between Generosity and Boundaries
"I hate to ask, but..." – the message that arrives in almost every journey. When to say yes, how to say no, and why it all goes through escrow.
U.S. Citizenship for Surrogacy Babies – What Happened and Where Things Stand Today
If you started a surrogacy journey in the U.S. over the past year or two, you almost certainly saw this alarming question in intended-parent groups: "Wait – did they cancel our babies' American citizenship?" I received dozens of worried messages from parents mid-journey. So let's clear things up, because there's good news.
Do we have to get married as part of the process?
What’s an apostille?
What U.S. state is the surrogacy agency located in?
