Tennessee Surrogacy Laws
Stance of Courts Toward Surrogacy
No specific statutes or published case law permitting or prohibiting surrogacy; considered legal.
Intended Parents Marital Status / Establishing Parentage
Pre-birth orders are available for intended parents who are genetically related to the child.
Money Permitted?
Yes – no laws specify compensation for a surrogate.
Summary of Law
Tennessee enforces gestational surrogacy agreements with court approval.
Cases, Additional Info
“Tenn. Code Ann. 36-1-102(48) neither permits nor prohibits surrogacy, but merely defines it. A pre-birth order is only possible when at least one of the Intended Parents shares a genetic connection with the child. Only the genetically related Intended Parent will be named on the parentage order, however, and the non-genetic Intended Parent will thereby be required to complete a second-parent or stepparent adoption after the child is born. If there are two intended parents and only one of them is a genetic parent, they must be married to each other in order to be able to complete the post-birth adoption process. A single intended parent, who is genetically related, can also obtain a pre-birth order, along with an order disestablishing the parentage of the gestational carrier.” source