LGBTQ+ Family Planning Attorney

The decision to start a family is a joyful one, filled with possibility. When the journey to parenthood involves assisted reproductive technology (ART) or adoption, as it typically does for same-sex couples, it is important to have a skilled family formation attorney by your side.

At Brinkley Law Firm, our experienced family planning attorneys help LGBTQ+ individuals and same-sex couples manage the legal details of creating their families, so they can focus on the joy of becoming parents. We assist our clients with adoption and assisted reproductive technology processes, ensuring that their legal relationships and rights, and those of their children, are protected.

LGBTQ+ Family Formation

The process of becoming parents is filled with weighty decisions for everyone, but especially for LGBTQ+ individuals and couples, who must decide how to bring a child into their family. Is adoption the right decision, and if so, what type of adoption? Is it important to the prospective parents that at least one parent has a genetic tie to the child? If so, what ART processes are best for the family’s needs? If egg or sperm donation are required, will the donors be known to the prospective parents? These are only some of the many questions that must be answered.

The family planning attorneys of Brinkley Law Firm work with our clients to evaluate their needs and explore their options. Then we help them navigate the complex and challenging area of family formation law. We assist LGBTQ+ individuals with all legal aspects of building their families, including:

• Surrogacy agreements
• Egg and sperm donor agreements
• Preconception agreements
• Establishing parental rights in adoption
• Pre-birth orders to secure the legal parentage of intended parents for a child born through surrogacy
• Post-birth orders
• Adoption by same-sex parents
• Second-parent adoptions where one partner is already a biological or legal parent to the child
• Parenting agreements
• Dispute resolution
• International surrogacy issues
• Name changes and amendment of birth certificates

Few things are more devastating for a family than for a parent and child to develop a bond, only to discover at a crucial moment (such as a divorce) that no legal parent-child relationship exists. Without a legal relationship, a person who has been acting as a parent may discover they have no right to custody or parenting time with the child they have helped to raise. In the event of a parent’s death, a child without a legal relationship to the parent may be denied benefits or inheritance rights to which they would otherwise be entitled. Unfortunately, many people do not realize until it is too late that simply having both parents listed on a child’s birth certificate does not create legal parentage rights.

Just as important as creating legal rights for LGBTQ+ parents is severing the parental rights of egg, sperm, or embryo donors. Without proper legal measures taken to terminate their rights, a donor of genetic material could later attempt to assert a legal right to the child, causing pain and disruption to the family. Brinkley Law Firm helps to firmly establish the legal relationships between parents and children that ensure the security and stability of LGBTQ+ families.

LGBTQ+ Family Planning Attorney Team in South Carolina

Brinkley Law Firm has concentrated its practice in family law, including LGBTQ+ family formation, for over a decade. We have worked with numerous individuals and couples to help them realize their dream of becoming parents and to create the firm legal foundation on which to build their families.

For LGBTQ+ individuals and couples, the path to parenthood may have a few more obstacles than it does for other prospective parents. Working with a family formation attorney who understands the unique challenges these families face, and who remains current with this constantly-evolving area of the law, is essential to clearing the way forward.

If you are considering starting or expanding your family, or wish to become a legal parent to your partner’s child, work with attorneys who can make the process as straightforward and smooth as possible. To learn more about our LGBTQ+ family planning services or to get guidance regarding your specific family law needs, please contact Brinkley Law Firm to schedule a consultation.