## Facts

- Anthony Raftopol and Shawn Hargon, domestic partners, entered a written gestational agreement with Karma A. Ramey.
- Embryos were created using a third-party egg donor and Raftopol’s sperm and implanted in Ramey, who carried the pregnancy.
- The agreement provided that Ramey would not assert parental status, would cooperate with steps needed to reflect intended parentage, and would consent to Hargon’s adoption if required.
- Before the birth of twins, the intended parents filed a declaratory judgment action seeking recognition as the children’s legal parents and an order directing the Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH) to issue a replacement birth certificate listing them as parents.

## Issues

1. Whether the Superior Court had subject-matter jurisdiction to declare a non-biological, non-adoptive intended parent a legal parent in a gestational carrier arrangement and to order DPH to issue a replacement birth certificate listing that intended parent.
2. Whether Conn. Gen. Stat. § 7-48a authorizes listing intended parents on a replacement birth certificate, including a non-biological intended parent, based on a valid gestational agreement and an order from a “court of competent jurisdiction.”

## Decision

- The Connecticut Supreme Court affirmed the judgment recognizing Raftopol and Hargon as the children’s legal parents and ordering issuance of a replacement birth certificate.
- The Court held the Superior Court had subject-matter jurisdiction to adjudicate parentage and to issue orders under § 7-48a.
- The Court held § 7-48a permits an intended parent who is neither biological nor adoptive to be adjudicated a legal parent through a valid gestational agreement.
- The Court held that Ramey, as a gestational carrier with no genetic or adoptive tie, had no parental rights to terminate.
- The Court held the Superior Court is a “court of competent jurisdiction” for purposes of § 7-48a orders directing DPH to issue replacement birth certificates.

## Legal Principles

- A valid gestational agreement may support a judicial determination that intended parents are the child’s legal parents, including an intended parent lacking a genetic or adoptive relationship.
- Conn. Gen. Stat. § 7-48a authorizes DPH to issue a replacement birth certificate for a birth subject to a gestational agreement upon order of a court of competent jurisdiction.
- A gestational carrier who is neither the biological nor the adoptive mother does not, on that basis alone, possess parental rights requiring termination before intended parentage may be declared.
- The Superior Court’s general jurisdiction is not displaced by implication in favor of Probate Court jurisdiction absent an express statutory grant.

## Conclusion

The court interpreted Connecticut’s statutory scheme to allow intended parentage determinations and replacement birth certificates under a valid gestational agreement, confirming that a non-biological, non-adoptive intended parent may be declared a legal parent by Superior Court order under § 7-48a.


Raftopol v. Ramey, 299 Conn. 681, 12 A.3d 783 (Conn. 2011)