Rebecca Levin Nayak guides her clients through the complexities of adoption, assisted reproduction, surrogacy, and other means of creating and protecting families. Particularly experienced in parentage law, she strives to ensure that the legal relationships between children and the adults who love and provide for them are secure.

The proud sister of two adopted siblings and with her own family built through assisted reproduction and co-parenting, Rebecca draws on her personal experience to support intended parents and families as they navigate anything from obtaining a pre-birth parentage order to agreements governing embryo, sperm or egg donations, to all kinds of adoption to co-parenting arrangements. Compassionate and thoughtful, Rebecca understands that each family has unique considerations, as do donors and gestational carriers, and she helps make sure everyone’s rights and roles are clearly defined and protected. Members of the LGBTQ+ community may face additional challenges, and Rebecca is experienced in counseling individuals in those particularities, whether that is establishing parentage or going through a confirmatory adoption.

Rebecca believes in giving back to the community through education, community service, and pro bono work. She presents on topics related to her considerable experience with adoption and assisted reproduction to attorneys, medical professionals, judges, and community members.

Rebecca is a Fellow of the Academy of Adoption and Assisted Reproduction Attorneys, chairing the Academy’s ART Membership Committee. Throughout her career, Rebecca has been a passionate advocate for equality. She is a founding member of the Family Law Institute of the National LGBTQ+ Bar and has served on the board of the National LGBTQ+ Bar Association.

Representative Experience

  • Advises clients on all steps of applying for and obtaining pre-birth and post-birth parentage orders.
  • Handles adoptions including confirmatory, kinship, stepparent and private (or independent adoption) for both adopting families and birth parents.
  • Drafts and reviews agreements involving surrogates, gestational carriers, and egg, embryo and sperm donations.
  • Counsels on creation, implementation and revision of co-parenting agreements.

Teaching & Lectures

Parentage: Past, Present and Future, Pennsylvania Bar Association Family Law Section Winter Meeting, January 18, 2025
Ethics of Surrogacy, Reproductive Ethics Conference, January 9-10, 2025
Estate Planning for Assisted Reproductive Technology, Pennsylvania Bar Institute, December 5, 2024
Securing Your Family in Uncertain Times, Philadelphia Family Pride, December 4, 2024
Understanding the Uniform Parentage Act (HB 350): Implications for Family Law Attorneys, AAML Penn Seminar Series, September 24, 2024
Current Research and Recommendations for Donor Disclosure, Academy of Adoption and Assisted Reproduction Attorneys, September 26, 2024
Embryo Disposition in Divorce, Philadelphia Bar Association, June 3, 2024
Philadelphia County Domestic Relations Practice 2023 – Adoption, Pennsylvania Bar Institute, December 6, 2023
Independent Adoption: What Is It and How Does It Work?, Gays With Kids, November 8, 2023
Legal Considerations for Building Your LGBTQ+ Family, Philadelphia Family Pride, July 20, 2023
Delaware Valley Adoption Council, Legal Panel, June 15, 2023
Adoption & Family Building: Overview, Updates and Best Practices in 2023, Pennsylvania Bar Institute, February 2, 2023

Who’s the Parent? The State of Parentage and Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) in PA, Pennsylvania Bar Association Family Law Section, July 15, 2022
Practical Steps to Protecting LGBTQIA+ Families in an Uncertain Legal Environment, Philadelphia Family Pride, June 30, 2022
Bias and Barriers in Family Law, Montgomery County Bar Association, May 4, 2022
Adoption and Family Building: Overview, Updates and Best Practices in 2021, Pennsylvania Bar Institute, March 2, 2021
Assisted Reproductive Technology Law in Pennsylvania, First Judicial District of Pennsylvania, April 15, 2021
Demystifying Surrogacy as a Way to Form Your LGBTQ+ Led Family, Philadelphia Family Pride, November 19, 2020
Pathways to Pregnancy: Legal Considerations for Building Your Family, Family Equality, September 24, 2020

Read more

Publications & News

Queer Pennsylvanians should take these steps before Trump’s inauguration,” Philadelphia Gay News, December 3, 2024
LGBTQ+ Legal Advocate Elected to Leadership Role at Philadelphia Bar Association,” Philadelphia Gay News, January 17, 2024
Parentage laws could soon change in Pennsylvania,” Philadelphia Gay News, September 4, 2024
They had extra embryos. So they logged on to Facebook,” The Philadelphia Inquirer, August 22, 2023
Philadelphia LGBTQ couples are worried about their rights after Roe fell. So they’re turning to estate planning,” The Philadelphia Inquirer, June 28, 2022
Philadelphia LGBTQ Bar Association fights on,” Philadelphia Gay News, November 17, 2021
Pennsylvania Supreme Court Raises Bar for Granting Co-Parent Adoptions to Unmarried Couples,” Mombian
“Why Do I Have to Adopt My Own Child?” – New Jersey Lawyer Magazine, No. 325, p. 30, August 2020

Professional and Community Memberships

Academy of Adoption and Assisted Reproduction Attorneys
– ART Membership Committee, chair
Connecting Rainbows
Gays With Kids
National LGBTQ+ Bar Association
– Family Law Institute, founding member
– Former board member
Men Having Babies, Gay Parenting Assistance Program
Pennsylvania Bar Association
– Family Law Section, Parentage Committee, co-chair
Philadelphia Bar Association
– Family Law Section, chair
Philadelphia Family Pride
Philadelphia LGBTQ Bar Association

Rebecca Levin Nayak's Recent News

View All News