When starting a family formation journey, it's important to be prepared legally and financially. One way to help pay for your legal costs for your journey is with the assistance of legal insurance. What exactly is legal insurance, and how can it help you in your surrogacy journey? Let’s break it down in simple terms.
Legal insurance is a special type of insurance that pays for legal services. Think of it like health insurance, but for legal matters—it can cover the costs of hiring a lawyer for things like reviewing contracts, handling disputes, or providing legal advice. In the context of your family formation case, legal insurance can be particularly helpful to cover costs of drafting or reviewing an agreement. '
A third party reproductive journey involves a range of legal documents and agreements between intended parents, surrogates, donors, and sometimes surrogacy agencies. These documents can include surrogacy agreements, which outline the responsibilities and expectations of all parties involved; egg, sperm, or embryo donation agreements, which detail the terms of donation and parental rights; and adoption paperwork, whether it is a straightforward adoption or one where an adoption is needed to confirm parental rights of a parent for a foreign surrogacy arrangement or for a parent in a sperm donation case. Having legal insurance can help cover the costs, saving you money.
At Tsong Law Group, we recognize the value of accessible legal services, particularly for complex matters like surrogacy, adoptions, and donations involving eggs, sperm, or embryos. That’s why we accept major legal insurance plans from top providers including: MetLife Legal Plans, LegalEASE, and ARAG Legal Insurance. Each offers distinct advantages to help you navigate your legal needs with confidence.
MetLife Legal Plans provides comprehensive coverage at an affordable cost, with access to over 18,000 qualified attorneys nationwide. Employers that offer MetLife Legal Plans include major corporations like Microsoft, Bank of America, Ebay, Meta, Boeing and Morgan Stanley. We are one of the few surrogacy law and adoption specialists under MetLife Legal Plans.
Your coverage will vary depending on your employer but for some, MetLife will cover 20 hours of reproductive law, which will cover egg donation cases, a surrogacy agreement and part of a surrogacy parentage action. For others, Metlife may not cover reproductive law, but you may still be eligible for four hours of out-of-scope services which will cover a gamete donation agreement or count towards a surrogacy contract.
To check your Metlife benefits, we need your eligibility ID or membership number.
LegalEASE has been a trusted name in legal insurance since 1971, offering plans that are often provided as employee benefits. Employers offering LegalEASE include Target, Google, CVS, and Stanley Black & Decker. Known for their expansive attorney network of over 20,560 vetted professionals, LegalEASE makes it easy for members to connect with the right attorney through their unique Compatibility/Matching System. Some LegalEASE cases will pay for your attorneys fees in full, for other cases you will be entitled to a discount on flat and hourly attorney fee rates.
ARAG Legal Insurance is another legal insurance offering to University of California employees, California state employees, and employees at companies like Wells Fargo, the Cigna Group, Mattel, and Oracle. ARAG was one of the first to offer reproductive law benefits. We accept ARAG for some egg, sperm and gamete donations cases, foster adoptions, and surrogacy agreement reviews. Where coverage is not found, you may still be entitled to reductions in flat or hourly rates.
An honorable mention goes to Men Having Babies, a private organization. Members of Men Having Babies are entitled to 10% discounts and larger discounts if they qualify for the Gay Parenting Assistance Program (GPAP) levels 1 or 2.
By being qualified to provide services under these providers, Tsong Law Group provides an avenue for some clients to find discounts on their legal fees. Whether you’re navigating surrogacy, adoption, or other family-building options, we’re here to help you every step of the way.
If you’re interested in legal insurance, your first step should be to check with your employer. Many large employers offer legal insurance as part of their benefits package. Ask your Human Resources department if legal insurance is available to you and whether it covers surrogacy and related legal matters.
In addition to the main legal insurance providers, some workplaces offer other options like Workplace Options, a provider that partners with employers to offer legal services, and CLC (Certified Legal Counsel), which is another resource that some employers provide access to for various legal needs. These options can sometimes extend to cover surrogacy-related legal matters, so it’s worth exploring all the avenues available through your employer.
Once you have your insurance or plan in place, the next step is to open up a case or matter, and you can then search for our name as a provider and request our service. We can assist you whether or not we are local to you, as long as you or your donor or your surrogate lives in one of our licensed states: California, Arizona, New York, Oklahoma, Illinois, and Washington.
Conclusion:
The legal aspects of surrogacy, gamete donation, and adoption don’t have to be overwhelming. With the right legal insurance plan, you can have peace of mind knowing that your legal needs are covered, allowing you to focus on the joy of building your family.
At Tsong Law Group, our experienced team of surrogacy, adoption and egg donation attorneys is here to guide you. We are licensed in California, Washington, New York, Arizona, Illinois, and Oklahoma.
Contact us today to learn more about how we can support you on your surrogacy journey.
Comments