Surrogacy Supreme Court Legal Dispute & Parentage Rights Analyzer

Docket Ref: West v. Intended Parents (2026) Rule 10 Certiorari Matrix
SCOTUS Rule 10 Cert Score
78%
Interstate Conflict / Novel Tech Question
Parental Liberty Standing
Low - Preempted
Gestational Carrier Lacks Genetic Nexus
Contract Enforceability
High (UPA 2017)
Pre-birth waiver legally binding
Interstate Conflict Risk
Moderate
UCCJEA Home State Jurisdiction applies
Appellate Pathway & Jurisdictional Flow Interactive D3 Node Tree
Johnson v. Calvert, 5 Cal. 4th 84 (1993)
Intent Doctrine • California Supreme Court
Established that when genetic and gestational parentage are severed in gestational surrogacy, the party who intended to procreate and raise the child is the legal mother under statutory and constitutional principles.
Matter of Baby M, 109 N.J. 396 (1988)
Traditional Surrogacy • New Jersey Supreme Court
Held traditional commercial surrogacy contracts void against public policy. Because the surrogate was the genetic mother, pre-birth termination of parental rights violated state adoption laws.
In re Marriage of Buzzanca, 61 Cal. App. 4th 1410 (1998)
Non-Genetic Intended Parents • California Court of Appeal
Extended legal parentage to intended parents who engaged a gestational carrier using donor gametes, holding parentage arises from consenting to medical conception, not genetics alone.
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