Nebraska Surrogacy Laws

Compensated gestational surrogacy is governed in Nebraska by R.R.S. Neb.25-21, 200 (2007). Although this statute doesn’t prohibit surrogacy, it explicitly states that all compensated surrogacy contracts, whether traditional or gestational, are void and unenforceable. However, some support for surrogacy can be found in this same statute, which also states that the biological father of such a contract “shall have all the rights and obligations imposed by law with respect to such child.”

The Nebraska legislature increased access to gestational surrogacy when it enacted R.R.S. Neb. 7-604.02 in 2020, which addresses situations of gestational surrogacy. In this “Acknowledgement of Maternity” statute, the Nebraska legislature allows an intended mother to be established as the legal mother, so long as the intended mother is genetically related to the child and the woman giving birth acknowledges her as the biological parent. The statute allows the intended parents to be named on the birth certificate when a gestational surrogate gives birth and specific circumstances are met.

The parties need to understand, however, that there is no way to enforce the specific provisions in a surrogacy agreement in Nebraska if the gestational carrier is compensated. A Nebraska surrogate who is reimbursed for expenses, unpaid medical bills, lost wages, etc. is not considered to be receiving ‘compensation,’ and so such expenses may be reimbursed even in an uncompensated surrogacy arrangement.