About the Firm:
Fertility Connections Hawaii (FCH) is Hawaii’s first dedicated Assisted Reproductive Technology (“ART”) law firm located in Honolulu, Hawaii, on the island of Oahu. We offer legal services for all aspects of the gestational surrogacy process, including:
• The drafting or review of Gestational Carrier Agreements;
• The drafting or review or known or anonymous egg and sperm donor agreements;
• Representation of parents in post-birth legal proceedings to establish legal parentage of the child(ren);
• Asssitance with obtaining a revised birth certificate contining the names of the intended parents;
• And many other services relating to gestational surrogacy.
We are able to provide legal counsel and representation for either intended parents or surrogates and we regularly work closely with surrogacy agencies to ensure the success of each surrogacy journey we are involved with.
For more information about the legal services we provide, please click here.
About the Attorney:
Caprice Itagaki is the founder and owner of Fertility Connections Hawaii. Before starting FCH, Caprice spent many years independently researching and studying the medical and technological advances in the area reproductive medicine and the laws that apply to surrogacy and legal parentage in different states. She realized that as reproductive medicine and technology continued to advance, there was a growing need for legal practitioners in the field.
Today, Caprice’s practice has expanded across state and international lines. She regularly represents intended parents and gestational carriers from Hawaii, the “mainland” U.S., Australia, New Zealand, and Asia. She has represented clients on Oahu, Maui, Kauai, and Hawaii island. Caprice regularly participates in legal seminars and continuing legal education in the field of ART law and actively works to stay up-to-date with changes in the field in Hawaii and beyond. Caprice also maintains a business and commercial law practice and provides general counsel and transactional legal services to many small businesses in Hawaii.
Currently there are no federal laws regulating surrogacy in the United States. Instead, it is left to individual states to determine the legality and enforceability of surrogacy and donor agreements. Gestational surrogacy agreements are currently recognized in 47 U.S. states and these state laws vary widely from one state to the next. Hawaii, like many other states, does not currently have any statutes or published case law which specifically prohibit surrogacy, which therefore makes it allowable. However, this is expected to change as more states experience the legal implications of reproductive technology on parentage and realize the need for regulation. Caprice is one of the few attorneys in the state of Hawaii specializing in ART and surrogacy law.
For an interactive map of surrogacy law across the United States, visit Creative Family Connections.
Caprice is a member of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (“ASRM”) and its Legal Professionals Group, American Bar Association’s Section of Family Law (Assisted Reproductive Technologies), and the Hawaii State Bar Association. She holds her B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and her J.D. from The Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law. Caprice is a licensed to practice law in the State of Hawaii, the United States District Court for the State of Hawaii, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court.
See What Our Yelp Reviews Say!
"Caprice did an incredible job for my husband and I throughout our surrogacy journey. We could not have been more pleased. We appreciated the way she honored our values, yet took a firm stance when advocating for our rights in order to protect us from potential harm. Caprice paid fine attention to detail and was always patient with us, clearly and gently explaining and/or reminding us about some of the stipulations we'd made in our contract so that we'd be on the right path toward welcoming our precious baby girl. She was both communicative and responsive. It was so refreshing to always be in communication with a live human being. Likewise, Caprice treated us like human beings rather than transactions. She gave us her time, her expertise, her knowledge, her energy, and her compassion-and she helped to make our journey very manageable. Initially, I was afraid that working with an attorney would squeeze out exorbitant amounts of time from our lives-but honestly, my fears were unfounded as Caprice had already completed all of the behind-the-scenes logistics so that our conversations would not exhaust or confuse us-but rather, these conversations clarified our next steps, motivated us, inspired us, and gave us so much hope to see this journey to its completion. Today we find it so surreal to cradle our beautiful baby girl in our arms-and we couldn't have done this without Caprice! We highly recommend this attorney to anyone who might be looking to invest in a surrogate. It is with bittersweet sadness and joy that I conclude this review, as our time with Caprice has come to a close. It is my hope that perhaps one day, should a situation arise in our lives where Caprice's services might be relevant, we will definitely give her a call again. We are deeply indebted to Caprice, for everything that she has done, and for helping our dreams to become reality!"
Mindy W.
"It's refreshing to work with a professional who is both caring and responsible. I will definitely contact her in the future when I need someone."
Dan M.
"Miss Itagaki has provided counsel to me several times over the last 10 years. Her information and advice is always spot-on, and she is extremely responsive and well-organized. If you need any legal services, I highly recommend Caprice Itagaki."
Lars H.
"Caprice was and continues to be an absolute superstar in our international surrogacy journey. As a same sex couple from Australia (now New Zealand) there were many complicating aspects of our surrogacy which Caprice navigated without issue and quickly became a trusted advisor- often going out of her way to research aspects of our case that were technically outside of her remit. From the first video call, it was clear that Caprice was professionally dedicated and personally invested in doing right by us and our little family. We have absolutely no hesitation in recommending her."
Dylan S.
See the rest of our reviews HERE