New York Fertility Lawyer

When you connect with a New York, NY fertility lawyer you should prioritize someone who specializes in the nuance of fertility law, assisted reproduction, and family formation.  You need someone who can provide clarity, review clinic documents, draft legal agreements, and advocate for you and your growing family.  Oleaga Law LLC focuses exclusively on family formation and fertility law.  From your first appointment at your IVF clinic, to creating embryos (with or without donor gametes), to establishing legal parentage, Janene Oleaga understands how to protect your interests within the timelines and confines of your family building through assisted reproduction.  Clients value our focus, practical checklists, and measured approach to sensitive choices. Book a free initial consult to map your path to parentage.

​Fertility Lawyer New York, NY

Fertility law is more than contracts; it’s family formation with legal guardrails.  “Fertility law” encompasses sperm donation, egg donation, embryo donation, gestational surrogacy, IVF agreements, embryo disposition agreements, judgments of parentage, confirmatory adoptions, and more.  Your agreement should be tailored to the specifics of your arrangement, and clarify your rights and responsibilities before you undergo any fertility procedure. The “what” is straightforward: protect consent, confirm who the legal parents are, and create paperwork your clinic can rely on and your court can uphold.  The nuances involve aligning multiple documents including clinic consent forms, agency matching terms, donation or surrogacy contracts, and court filings so everything is aligned with your family building goals.

​Most clients arrive with similar concerns: privacy, timelines, parentage, and the possibility of future disagreement. Our reproductive lawyers acknowledge those worries, then pivot to what you want, certainty and momentum. Our fertility attorneys review your clinic’s checklist, confirm who needs independent counsel, and schedule drafting and signatures ahead of retrievals and transfers. A New York fertility lawyer drafts in harmony with local clinic policies and state law so your file is clean, and your care team can proceed.

​Our scope is comprehensive. Donor agreements set boundaries on contact and access to medical information. Surrogacy agreements address medical decision-making, expense handling, and delivery logistics. Parentage orders confirm legal parent status before birth whenever possible, reducing administrative friction at the hospital. If multiple parties are involved like intended parents, donors, gestational carriers, our assisted reproduction attorneys organize signatures and notarization if requested, anticipate insurance issues, and bring all documents into alignment.

​Education is part of the service. Our IVF attorneys explain provisions in plain language and flag choices you might not have considered disposition options, future transfers, travel or relocation contingencies. If you’re working across state lines, we identify issues early and tailor language to reduce surprises later. Throughout, you’ll have timelines, document roadmaps, and direct access for fast questions, so delays don’t ripple through your cycle.

​Why Experience Matters In Fertility Law

Focused experience helps transform many moving parts into a single, dependable plan that clinics, courts, and clients can execute with confidence. Our legal team has:

• ​Concentrated practice in assisted reproduction: donor agreements, surrogacy contracts, and judgments of parentage.
• Close collaboration with New York IVF clinics and agencies for smooth document acceptance.
• Clear timelines, checklists, and steady communication that support treatment schedules.
• Consistent client feedback praising thorough explanations and practical, caring representation.

“Janene was very helpful during my surrogacy journey. She was very prompt at responding, knowledgeable, friendly, and made the paperwork process easy (letters/forms/contracts). I would highly recommend her.”

– Brittany K.

​Build your family on a clear legal foundation. Partner with Oleaga Law LLC and book a free initial consult to put clinic-ready documents and a realistic timeline in place.

Types Of Fertility Cases We Handle

When you need a New York fertility lawyer families trust to guide you through assisted reproductive matters, experienced legal counsel is essential.  Fertility law involves complex legal agreements, coordination with fertility clinics and medical professionals, and strict compliance with New York statutes governing assisted reproduction and parentage.

At Oleaga Law LLC, we represent intended parents, donors, and surrogates in a wide range of assisted reproductive technology (ART) matters. Our firm provides strategic legal guidance at every stage of the family-building process—from the drafting of reproductive agreements to court proceedings establishing legal parentage. We understand that fertility arrangements often involve significant emotional and financial investment, and we focus on creating clear, enforceable agreements that protect the rights and expectations of all parties involved.

Fertility law centers on establishing and protecting parental rights before and after a child is born. As a fertility attorney in New York, NY we draft agreements that outline responsibilities and rights, clarify expectations, address ownership and dispositional control of embryos and genetic material, and comply with ever-evolving state law.  Each arrangement is unique, and we tailor our legal services to reflect the goals and structure of every family we represent.

Our firm has been featured in U.S. News & World Report, Forbes, Parents Magazine, and other national publications, and since 2020 we have guided hundreds of families across the United States and internationally through the legal aspects of building their families through assisted reproduction and third party reproductive arrangements.

Gestational Surrogacy Agreements

Gestational surrogacy arrangements require comprehensive legal agreements to ensure compliance with New York law and to protect the interests of the intended parents, gestational surrogate (also called a “gestational carrier”), and any other party to the agreement, such as a spouse or intimate partner.

Under the Child-Parent Security Act (CPSA), gestational surrogacy agreements must meet specific statutory requirements in order to be enforceable. The CPSA provides a comprehensive legal framework governing compensated gestational surrogacy arrangements and provides protections for both intended parents and gestational surrogates.

A properly drafted gestational surrogacy agreement serves as the legal roadmap for the surrogacy journey and typically addresses:

• Compensation and reimbursement of expenses
• Medical decision-making authority during pregnancy
• Health insurance and life insurance coverage
• Confidentiality and privacy provisions
• The rights and responsibilities of the intended parents and gestational carrier
• Compliance with the Surrogate’s Bill of Rights
• Procedures for obtaining a pre-birth parentage order
• Countless other details specific to your journey

New York law also requires that gestational surrogates have independent legal counsel, paid for by the intended parents but representing solely the interests of the gestational surrogate. These safeguards ensure that all parties fully understand their rights and obligations before the process begins.

Egg Donation Agreements

​​Egg donation arrangements require clear legal agreements identifying the donor and the intended parents from the outset of the donation arrangement, regardless of whether the parties are known to one another (open egg donation) or intend to keep their identities confidential from one another (closed egg donation).

Egg donation agreements address important legal and practical considerations, including:

• Medical screening, genetic screening, and other clinical testing
• The donor’s relinquishment of parental rights
• Compensation and expense reimbursement
• Ownership and dispositional control of eggs retrieved and embryos created
• Permissions/restrictions on future use of the eggs retrieved and embryos created
• Confidentiality and privacy provisions
• Future contact arrangements, if any
• Parentage of any resulting child

These agreements are particularly important in New York fertility cases because they ensure that the intended parents have full ownership and dispositional control of the eggs once donated and that the intended parents are recognized as the child’s exclusive legal parents.

Our firm works closely with fertility clinics and reproductive endocrinologists to ensure that egg donation agreements align with clinical protocols and legal requirements. We walk you through what each part of your agreement means so that you have full clarity of the donation arrangement at each phase.

Sperm Donation Agreements

Whether involving a directed (known) or anonymous donor, sperm donation agreements are essential for anyone attempting conception with the assistance of a sperm donor.  A well-drafted sperm donation agreement typically addresses:

• The donor’s waiver of parental rights
• The donor’s relinquishment of rights to the donated sperm and embryos created from the donated sperm
• The intended parents’ legal status as parents and responsibilities to the donor
• Ownership and control of genetic material and resulting embryos
• Compensation, reimbursement, travel, and other financial provisions
• Future contact expectations, if applicable
• Confidentiality

Our firm ensures that sperm donation arrangements are properly documented and compliant with New York law so that intended parents can move forward with clarity and confidence.  We draft sperm donation agreements that prevent misunderstandings and protect the legal status of the intended parents as the child’s exclusive parents, and the legal status of the donor. Our New York fertility lawyer can help answer any questions you may have regarding sperm donation arrangements.

Parentage Proceedings

Securing a legal judgment of parentage is one of the most important legal steps in most fertility matters.  A  judgment of parentage declares your legal relationship to your child conceived and born through assisted reproduction and/or gestational surrogacy.

New York law allows intended parents to obtain pre-birth or post-birth parentage orders, depending on the circumstances of your assisted reproduction arrangement. These court orders formally establish the intended parents as the legal parents of the child.

A pre-birth parentage order provides significant legal certainty by confirming parental rights before the child is born.  After a pre-birth parentage order is issued, the intended parents’ may have their names provided on the child’s birth certificate.

Our firm represents intended parents, surrogates, and donors in family court proceedings to obtain parentage orders and ensure that parental rights to children born through assisted reproduction are secure.  Every child deserves the security in knowing who their parents are.

Embryo Donation Agreements

Embryo donation agreements involve the legal transfer of previously created embryos from one individual or couple to another individual or couple for reproductive use. These matters require carefully drafted legal agreements that address both ownership and dispositional control of the embryos, and parentage of any future child.

Embryo donation agreements must take careful consideration of the nature of the parties’ relationship and expectations for future contact, taking into account that the parties will share full genetic siblings.

Embryo Disposition Agreements

Though similar in name, embryo disposition agreements are entirely different from embryo donation agreements.  Embryo disposition agreements are entered into by the progenitors or partners responsible for creating embryos together, even if a gamete donor is also involved in the creation of the embryos.

Embryo disposition agreements involve the legal transfer of the ownership and dispositional control of embryos from the parties jointly to one party exclusively in the event of a future separation, divorce, or death.  New York is one of a handful of states to have a clear statute outlining the requirements for entering into an embryo disposition agreement to avoid future disputes regarding ownership of embryos and parentage of any resulting child in the context of a divorce.

Because embryos are often stored in fertility clinics for extended periods, these agreements are essential for preventing future disputes over embryos.

Fertility-Related Disputes

While most assisted reproductive arrangements proceed smoothly, disputes can arise when agreements are unclear or when circumstances change during the process.

Our firm represents clients in a range of fertility-related disputes, including:

• Contract interpretation and enforcement
• Parentage disagreements
• Embryo ownership disputes
• Conflicts between intended parents, donors, or surrogates

Because fertility matters involve deeply personal decisions and significant financial commitments, our goal is always to resolve disputes efficiently while protecting our clients’ parental rights and family-building goals.

Guidance Through the Family-Building Process

Fertility arrangements involve far more than legal paperwork. They require coordination with fertility clinics, surrogacy agencies, medical providers, and courts—all within strict timelines dictated by medical treatment.

Since 2020, Oleaga Law LLC has helped families navigate these complexities by providing practical legal guidance throughout the assisted reproduction process. We remain attentive to the evolving legal framework governing reproductive technology and ensure that our clients’ agreements comply with current statutory requirements.

Clear, comprehensive documentation at the outset of a fertility arrangement often prevents misunderstandings and disputes later. By addressing potential issues early, we help create stability and certainty for everyone involved.

If you are considering assisted reproductive options such as surrogacy, egg donation, sperm donation, or embryo donation, working with a New York fertility lawyer can provide clarity and legal protection throughout the process. Our firm is committed to helping clients define roles, clarify rights and responsibilities, and secure parental rights and move forward with confidence as they build their families. Contact us today for more information on how we can help.