Why is it important to make a contract for fertility procedures?

When couples do enter into these contracts, and I want to sort of make it very generic because first of all, all of those are legal issues that are decided on a state by state basis, so the law in the state of California may be completely different from Texas which may be completely different from Illinois. So, that’s first and foremost. So, really the couples that go through that really should consult an attorney in the state where they are going to be performing those procedures.
But really what is important is for these couples to state with sufficient clarity as to what they wish to happen to the embryos in case they can no longer speak to the issue or in case they no longer agree. So, in case the husband dies, what do you want to do with the embryos? Do they get destroyed or do they get passed on to the now widow or do they get passed on to someone else in his family for that matter. And it’s really hard when a couple is trying to have a child to think of breakups. And oftentimes, couples don’t because that simply doesn’t enter into the equation. But, given the reality of the high rate of divorce in this country and other potential problems such as unexpected death, especially in the case of Oncofertility where death is not that potentially unexpected. Those are the questions that need to be really thought through by the couple and put on paper.

So the important thing is the eventuality of what happens once one half of the couple can’t really express their views because of unavailability or when the views sort of clash. So, it's best to come to some sort of agreement now as opposed to later in the proceedings.