§ 19-8-41.Release of responsibility by legal embryo custodian; procedures; presumption of parentage
Chapter 8. Adoption · Article 2. Embryo Transfers · Last amended 2009 · Last verified October 9, 2026
Full Text of § 19-8-41
Plain-English Summary
This is the core of Georgia’s embryo adoption law. A legal embryo custodian may relinquish all rights and responsibilities for an embryo to a recipient intended parent before the embryo transfer. The relinquishment is optional, but the paperwork isn’t: a written contract shall be entered into between each legal embryo custodian and each recipient intended parent before the transfer. The contract transfers rights to the embryo and to any child that may result.
Every custodian and every recipient intended parent signs the contract in the presence of a notary public and a witness. Families who want anonymity may sign with initials or other designations. The contract may also include the custodian’s written waiver of notice and service in any later adoption or parentage case, which matters if the recipients later go to court under § 19-8-42.
Sometimes the embryo was made with donated sperm or eggs. Donors who irrevocably relinquished their rights in connection with in vitro fertilization aren’t entitled to notice of the embryo relinquishment, and their consent isn’t required.
Once each custodian has relinquished the embryo under subsection (a), the legal transfer is complete and the embryo transfer is authorized. A child born to the recipient intended parent as a result is presumed to be the recipient’s legal child — provided each custodian and each recipient signed a written contract. Section 19-7-21, which makes children conceived through assisted reproduction legitimate in some cases, yields to this article where the two conflict. Recipients who want a court order confirming parentage can seek an expedited order under §§ 19-8-42 and 19-8-43.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you legally donate embryos in Georgia?
By written contract. Each legal embryo custodian and each recipient intended parent signs a contract before the embryo transfer, transferring rights to the embryo and to any resulting child. Everyone signs in the presence of a notary public and a witness. Once each custodian has relinquished the embryo this way, the legal transfer is complete and the embryo transfer is authorized.
Can embryo donation be anonymous in Georgia?
Yes, in the contract. The section lets the parties use initials or other designations if they want anonymity. The contract must still be signed by each legal embryo custodian and each recipient intended parent before a notary public and a witness, so a notary and a witness are present at each signing even when the names on the page are initials.
Do the sperm or egg donors have to agree to an embryo donation?
Not if they irrevocably relinquished their rights in connection with in vitro fertilization. When an embryo was created with donor gametes, those sperm or oocyte donors aren’t entitled to notice of the embryo relinquishment, and their consent isn’t required. The contract runs between the legal embryo custodians and the recipient intended parents.
Is a baby born from a donated embryo legally mine in Georgia?
The law presumes so. A child born to a recipient intended parent as a result of an embryo relinquishment under this section is presumed to be the recipient’s legal child, provided each legal embryo custodian and each recipient intended parent signed a written contract. Recipients may also petition the superior court for an expedited order of adoption or parentage under § 19-8-42, before or after the birth.
Can the embryo donors skip notice of a later adoption case?
Yes, if they agree in writing. The contract may include a written waiver by the legal embryo custodian of notice and service in any adoption or other parentage proceeding that follows. Under § 19-8-42, the court shall give effect to any such written waiver.
Amendment History
Laws 2009, Act 171, § 2, eff. July 1, 2009.