Medical Justice provides free consultations to doctors facing medico-legal obstacles. We have solutions for doctor-patient conflicts, unwarranted demands for refunds, online defamation (patient review mischief), meritless litigation, and a gazillion other issues. We also provide counsel specific to COVID-19. If you are navigating a medico-legal obstacle, visit our booking page to schedule a free consultation – or use the tool shared below.

"Can Medical Justice solve my problem?" Click here to review recent consultations...

We’ve been protecting doctors from medico-legal threats since 2001. We’ve seen it all. Here’s a sample of typical recent consultation discussions…

  • Former employee stole patient list. Now a competitor…
  • Patient suing doctor in small claims court…
  • Just received board complaint…
  • Allegations of sexual harassment by employee…
  • Patient filed police complaint doctor inappropriately touched her…
  • DEA showed up to my office…
  • Patient “extorting” me. “Pay me or I’ll slam you online.”
  • My carrier wants me to settle. My case is fully defensible…
  • My patient is demanding an unwarranted refund…
  • How do I safely terminate doctor-patient relationship?
  • How to avoid reporting to Data Bank…
  • I want my day in court. But don’t want to risk my nest egg…
  • Hospital wants to fire me…
  • Sham peer review inappropriately limiting privileges…
  • Can I safely use stem cells in my practice?
  • Patient’s results are not what was expected…
  • Just received request for medical records from an attorney…
  • Just received notice of intent to sue…
  • Just received summons for meritless case…
  • Safely responding to negative online reviews…

We challenge you to supply us with a medico-legal obstacle we haven’t seen before. Know you are in good hands. Schedule your consultation below – or click here to visit our booking page.

 

Surrogate pregnancies are guided by state law. Each state is different. Michigan does not automatically recognize babies born to surrogates as the legal children of their biological parents.  

That posed a problem for Jordan and Tammy Myers of Grand Rapid Michigan.  

Each provided the genetic material to produce an embryo; an embryo which was implanted in a surrogate.  

When born, Michigan labeled the surrogate (Lauren Vermilye) and HER husband as the legal parents of the twins. Note, the surrogate and her husband even filed a legal affidavit stating the Myers were the real parents.  

What to do? What to do? 

The Myers began an adoption process. Adoption does not happen overnight, nor is it guaranteed.  

This included home visits from a social worker, detailed questions about their approach to parenting, and background checks with fingerprints. By the way, the Myers were ALREADY parents to an 8-year-old.  

The Myers needed to send reference letters to the state. And they needed permission from the surrogate to bring the twin babies home.  

Oy. 

Some background. 

In 2015, the Myers wanted to have a second child. Tammy Myers soon learned she had breast cancer. She had eggs harvested, then underwent a number of procedures, including partial hysterectomy and bilateral mastectomy.  

The medical bills exhausted their financial resources.  

In a Facebook post, the Myers shared their story seeking an unpaid volunteer to help them have a baby.  

Ms. Vermilye, 35, who also lives in Grand Rapids, read the post and sent them a note saying she was interested. 

“My husband and I had talked about how I had a gift of carrying and delivering very easily,” said Ms. Vermilye, who has a girl and a boy who are 6 and 9. “We felt like it was kind of unfair that we had it so easy and have friends and family that don’t.” 

In vitro fertilization was performed using Mr. Myers’ sperm and Ms. Myer’s eggs (previously harvested and frozen). Ms. Vermilye, the surrogate, provided no genetic material. The embryos were implanted. This is known as a gestational surrogacy. A gestational surrogacy means the surrogate is providing the uterus for the embryo; but not the egg. 

The two couples became close friends. The Myers tried to get a court order mandating they were the legal parents. Unfortunately, a judge would not bless this conclusion. Judge Scott Noto, denied the request, saying he was being asked to validate a contract the state had deemed void. “The Court has no authority to enforce such a contract,” he wrote. 

The Myers are likely to eventually succeed in adopting their twins. 

With the benefit of hindsight, might it have been easier to do this in Indiana, a neighboring state, where surrogacy contracts are deemed enforceable? Uh-huh. 

As noted, each state is different. The table below on state laws and surrogacy from Tsai S, et al. Surrogacy Laws in the United States, What Obstetrician-Gynecologists Need to Know. Obstetrics and Gynecology. 2020; 135: 717-722 is excellent.  

surrogacy status

Even though the article was published in 2020, the landscape has already changed. Effective 2021, New York now allows surrogacy contracts to be enforced

For decades, “surrogate parenting agreements” were deemed void and unenforceable by our state’s Legislature as contrary to New York public policy (DRL § 122). If the surrogacy agreement provided for the surrogate to be compensated, the parties, their attorneys and any other entities involved in the arrangement were also subject to civil and potentially criminal penalties (DRL § 123). 

The CPSA adds an entirely new article – Article 5-C – to the New York State Family Court Act, which became effective on February 15, 2021 (FCA § 581). Pursuant to Part 4 of Section 581, entitled “Surrogacy Agreement,” parties may now enter into enforceable surrogacy agreements, and such agreements may provide for surrogate compensation, provided that all other statutory requirements have been followed (FCA § 581-401). 

The law is clear, however, that this only applies to gestational surrogacy – where the surrogate’s own egg is not used to conceive the child. Surrogacy arrangements where the surrogate is biologically related to the child, sometimes referred to as “traditional” or “genetic” surrogacy, remain unenforceable in New York and are statutorily prohibited if the surrogate is being compensated (FCA § 581-401). 

I hope the Myers complete the adoption process quickly. 

What do you think? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Medical Justice provides free consultations to doctors facing medico-legal obstacles. We have solutions for doctor-patient conflicts, unwarranted demands for refunds, online defamation (patient review mischief), meritless litigation, and a gazillion other issues. We also provide counsel specific to COVID-19. If you are navigating a medico-legal obstacle, visit our booking page to schedule a free consultation – or use the tool shared below.

"Can Medical Justice solve my problem?" Click here to review recent consultations...

We’ve been protecting doctors from medico-legal threats since 2001. We’ve seen it all. Here’s a sample of typical recent consultation discussions…

  • Former employee stole patient list. Now a competitor…
  • Patient suing doctor in small claims court…
  • Just received board complaint…
  • Allegations of sexual harassment by employee…
  • Patient filed police complaint doctor inappropriately touched her…
  • DEA showed up to my office…
  • Patient “extorting” me. “Pay me or I’ll slam you online.”
  • My carrier wants me to settle. My case is fully defensible…
  • My patient is demanding an unwarranted refund…
  • How do I safely terminate doctor-patient relationship?
  • How to avoid reporting to Data Bank…
  • I want my day in court. But don’t want to risk my nest egg…
  • Hospital wants to fire me…
  • Sham peer review inappropriately limiting privileges…
  • Can I safely use stem cells in my practice?
  • Patient’s results are not what was expected…
  • Just received request for medical records from an attorney…
  • Just received notice of intent to sue…
  • Just received summons for meritless case…
  • Safely responding to negative online reviews…

We challenge you to supply us with a medico-legal obstacle we haven’t seen before. Know you are in good hands. Schedule your consultation below – or click here to visit our booking page.

 

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Jeffrey Segal, MD, JD

Chief Executive Officer and Founder

Dr. Jeffrey Segal, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Medical Justice, is a board-certified neurosurgeon. Dr. Segal is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons; the American College of Legal Medicine; and the American Association of Neurological Surgeons. He is also a member of the North American Spine Society. In the process of conceiving, funding, developing, and growing Medical Justice, Dr. Segal has established himself as one of the country’s leading authorities on medical malpractice issues, counterclaims, and internet-based assaults on reputation.

Dr. Segal was a practicing neurosurgeon for approximately ten years, during which time he also played an active role as a participant on various state-sanctioned medical review panels designed to decrease the incidence of meritless medical malpractice cases.

Dr. Segal holds a M.D. from Baylor College of Medicine, where he also completed a neurosurgical residency. Dr. Segal served as a Spinal Surgery Fellow at The University of South Florida Medical School. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa as well as the AOA Medical Honor Society. Dr. Segal received his B.A. from the University of Texas and graduated with a J.D. from Concord Law School with highest honors.

In 2000, he co-founded and served as CEO of DarPharma, Inc, a biotechnology company in Chapel Hill, NC, focused on the discovery and development of first-of-class pharmaceuticals for neuropsychiatric disorders.

Dr. Segal is also a partner at Byrd Adatto, a national business and health care law firm. Byrd Adatto was selected as a Best Law Firm in the 2021 edition of the “Best Law Firms” list by U.S. News – Best Lawyers. With over 50 combined years of experience in serving doctors, dentists, and other providers, Byrd Adatto has a national pedigree to address most legal issues that arise in the business and practice of medicine.