NH's First Surrogacy Agency Launches in Concord

After helping author significant updates to NH’s surrogacy laws through a bill passed in 2014, Attorney James Bianco launched Avenues to Surrogacy, the state’s first and only surrogacy agency.

Bianco, who is also CEO of Bianco Professional Association in Concord, opened the surrogacy agency in December 2016 after the updates provided enhanced protections for intended parents and ensured that surrogates would have no legal or financial responsibility for the children they carry.

“More people are interested in surrogacy. New Hampshire had surrogacy laws for a while, but they were out of date,” says Bianco, whose firm provides legal services to people pursuing adoptions and surrogacy.

Bianco says one of the legal changes is a pre-birth court order that names the intended parents but not the surrogate on the child’s birth certificate regardless of the parents’ gender or marital status.

“It’s clear who the baby belongs to,” he says. The statute also now requires that surrogates be at least 21 years old, have already given birth to a child, receive medical and mental health reviews and have legal representation, Bianco says.

With those updates in place and clients increasingly inquiring about surrogacy, Bianco decided to open Avenues to Surrogacy in Concord with Kristine Pries as director. Her background is creating families through adoption, as well as early childhood education.

Pries points out Avenues to Surrogacy offers gestational surrogacy. That’s when “the surrogate is strictly a carrier and has no biological connection to child. The egg and sperm are from the parents or donors and inserted in the surrogate,” she explains. Traditional surrogacy, which the agency does not offer, usually involves sperm from a parent fertilizing an egg from the surrogate. “Many families want a biological connection to their children but cannot carry a child. Surrogacy is a good option for them,” Pries adds.

Avenues to Surrogacy connects prospective parents with surrogates. “We are matching them based on preference and interests to be a partner throughout the pregnancy and make it a positive experience for everyone,” Pries says. Surrogacy costs can range from $20,000 to $30,000 for the surrogate alone to $50,000 to $60,000 in total, including attorney fees and medical factors, Pries says.

Avenues to Surrogacy also connects counselors with intended parents and surrogates. Pries says the agency receives calls daily from people interested in engaging a surrogate as well as from women who want to be surrogates, and everyone has questions. “It’s a long process. There are a lot of medical appointments, background checks. We set up visits with psychologists. That’s what we’re in the midst of now,” Pries says. Adds Bianco, “We want to make sure people are comfortable with it and really want to do it.” For more information, visit avenuestosurrogacy.com.