Make that three - when the Uniform Parentage Act goes into effect on May 2, surrogacy will become legal in Utah, allowing the Utah County couple to see their children delivered here.

But possibly becoming the first Utahns to test the new law is more worrisome than comforting.

"Now what?" says Missy. "I don't know any lawyers. Do I just show up in court and say, 'Here's my contract, will you approve it?' "

Wanting to keep a low profile, Missy has asked that her last name not be used.

The new law, which details how contracts and birth certificates will be handled, has hopeful parents, attorneys, judges and fertility experts on a learning curve as they encounter this clinical path to parenthood, and the accompanying ethical and legal pitfalls, for the first time.

Fertility experts are prepared to begin offering surrogacy to patients for whom adoption is currently the only parenting option. Surrogacy agencies in other states have started accepting applications from Utah surrogates. One Utah surrogate is even considering opening her own agency.

"The first people to put their toes in the water, we'll find out whether or not they get wet," said Brian Barnard, a Salt Lake City attorney who has already drafted a blanket surrogacy contract that fits the law, but that can be tailored to a client's unique circumstances.

Having challenged Utah's old surrogacy law as unconstitutional, Barnard is arguably best poised to shepherd the first contract through court. But he says no amount of preparation will guarantee speedy approval.

"Some of the judges will go through it with a fine-tooth comb, because it's the first one," Barnard said.

Paid surrogacy has been illegal in Utah since 1989. Utahns like Missy have managed to get around the old law by seeking approval of their contracts and medical care elsewhere.

About 14 weeks ago, Missy, her husband and her sister-in-law flew to Boise, Idaho, to have Missy's eggs harvested and mixed in a petri dish with her husband's sperm. The resulting embryos were then placed in Missy's sister-in-law's womb.

Doctors had told Missy in September that it was too risky for her to get pregnant again. Her son, the couple's first and only child, had been born about 18 months earlier.

Under the previous law, Missy and her husband would have faced legal complications if their twins were born in Utah. Hospitals automatically put a surrogate mother's name on birth certificates, despite the fact she is not the genetic mother.

In 2003, Barnard sued the state Health Department, arguing it was unconstitutional to force biological parents to adopt their own child. A federal judge agreed, and ordered the state to change its policy.

Since then, the health department has fielded requests from two gestational surrogates who had delivered babies and wanted the biological parents' names on the birth certificates.

For the new law, Missy's contract may or may not be the first test case. Crystal Young, a Utah surrogate who lobbied to pass the new law, is growing close to delivering twins for a Japanese couple whose embryos she is carrying.

The couple flew thousands of miles from Tokyo to visit Young the first weekend in April and celebrate news that the babies are both girls, according to the Las Vegas agency that matched them. Young's due date is July 2.

But the single working mother spent most of March confined to her Payson home, heeding doctor's orders and signs - minor contractions in her 22nd week - that the babies were possibly coming too early, said agency director Akio Sasajima.

The Salt Lake Tribune followed the simultaneous legislative debate over surrogacy and Young's pregnancy. Her compelling story influenced several lawmakers' votes, according to former Sen. Ron Allen, D-Stansbury Park.

"It raised their consciousness level and awareness of how important this can be to some people," said Allen.

But Young says she has been unfairly stigmatized and seen as choosing to become a surrogate for the money, when her true motive is to help others realize the joy of parenthood. She last spoke with The Tribune in early April, and said she no longer wants to participate in coverage.

Surrendering a baby, even someone else's baby, cuts against the archetype of the nurturing mother, making it difficult for some people to understand why any woman would want to be a surrogate, especially in conservative Utah County.

Cultural and religious concerns entered into the legislative debate, causing sponsoring Sen. Lyle Hillyard to craft the new law narrowly.

Hillyard has pledged to follow up with courts to see how many surrogacy contracts are approved. That number is unlikely to exceed the fingers on his hands. Excluded from contracting with surrogates are single parents, including gay couples and widows or widowers with unused frozen embryos.

Utah's fertility specialists expect surrogacy will remain rare, offered mostly to women without a functioning uterus.

"That's not a huge part of the population. But for those few, the law is a true gift," says James Heiner, founder and director of the in vitro fertilization clinic at St. Mark's Hospital. Publicity about the new law has sparked more interest from prospective egg donors, says Heiner. "Surrogacy has never been available, so it's hard to say how many patients we'll see. But we typically refer about half a dozen [a year] to clinics outside the state.

Matt Peterson, who oversees the University of Utah's Center for Reproductive Medicine, has two patients contemplating surrogacy. He recommends couples do research on a clinic's in vitro fertilization success rates and follow guidelines published by the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology.

"These are unique situations fraught with potential legal danger and complicated social outcomes," Peterson said.

The Center for Surrogate Parenting in Encino, Calif., is looking to start advertising in Utah, according to the agency's director, Karen Synesiou. And Cherie Morgan, a Salt Lake City resident and one-time surrogate, says she "has tossed around the idea" of opening up an agency.

"With Utah being so family-oriented, it seems like a logical opportunity," said Morgan.

Meanwhile, Missy is hunting for an attorney. The twins are due around Labor Day.

"My sister-in-law has five kids, ranging from 1 to 7, so for her to deliver outside the state is not an option," she said. "This has been such an incredible experience. We're excited and blessed."

kstewart@sltrib.com