GoStork, Inc. (“GoStork,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) has adopted these Terms of Use (“Terms”) to inform you (“user(s),” “you,” or “your”) of your rights and to govern your access to and use of gostork.com website (collectively, the “Platform”), as well as the related services offered by GoStork (collectively, our “Services”). The Terms contained herein apply to all users of the Platform and our Services and incorporate our Privacy Policy.
By clicking the “Account Setup” box when you register, you acknowledge that you have read and understood these Terms and that you accept and agree to be legally bound by the terms and conditions contained herein. If you do not agree to be bound by these Terms, please exit the Site now.
THE INFORMATION ON THIS PLATFORM IS NOT INTENDED TO BE A SUBSTITUTE FOR PROFESSIONAL MEDICAL OR LEGAL ADVICE, AND SHOULD NOT BE RELIED UPON AS SUCH. GoStork does not provide medical or legal advice. GoStork does not endorse or recommend any particular donor or surrogate on this Platform. GoStork does not endorse or recommend any particular medical procedure to accomplish the birth of a child. All users should consult a medical professional about medical issues related to assisted reproductive technology. The field of egg and sperm donation and gestational or traditional surrogacy is regulated in many states; users of the Platform should consult with a family law attorney prior to proceeding to make an agreement with any donor or surrogate whose name was obtained on this Platform.
Access to certain portions of the Platform are restricted to registered users. As part of our registration process, you must provide us with certain information. We use this information so that we can verify your identity and to allow you to make the full use of the services we provide through the Platform. Additionally, you might be required to provide personally identifiable information (“Personal Information”), which will be maintained and used by us as described by these Terms and our Privacy Policy. If you do not comply with these Terms at any time, we reserve the right to suspend, cancel, or terminate your password, user account, and/or use of and access to the Platform (or any part thereof). You are responsible for maintaining the security of your password or user account, and you are responsible for any acts or omissions that take place on your account.
The Platform may be used and accessed for lawful purposes only. You agree to abide by all applicable local, state, national, and foreign laws, treaties, and regulations in connection with your use of the Platform and its content. In addition, without limitation, you agree that you will not do any of the following while using or accessing the Platform :
• use the Platform to collect, store, or distribute personal information about other users without their express permission;
• knowingly include or use any false or inaccurate information in any profile;
• circumvent, disable, or otherwise interfere with security-related features on the Platform or features that prevent or restrict use or copying of any content;
• attempt to probe, scan, or test the vulnerability of any system or network operated by us, or breach or impair or circumvent any security or authentication measures protecting the Platform;
• attack the Platform via a denial-of-service attack or a distributed denial-of-service attack or otherwise attempt to interfere with the proper working of the Platform;
• transmit or upload any material to the Platform that contains viruses, trojan horses, worms, time bombs, or any other harmful or deleterious programs;
• attempt to decipher, decompile, disassemble, reverse engineer, or otherwise attempt to discover or determine the source code of any software or any proprietary algorithm used to provide the Platform;
• use the Platform in any way that competes with us; or
• encourage, collaborate, or instruct any other person or entity to do any of the foregoing.
ANY ATTEMPT TO DO ANY OF THE FOREGOING PROHIBITED ACTS, OR TO OTHERWISE UNDERMINE THE OPERATION OF THE PLATFORM, MAY BE A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAW. SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, WE RESERVE THE RIGHT, IN ADDITION TO OUR OTHER REMEDIES, TO SEEK DAMAGES (INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ATTORNEYS’ FEES) FROM ANY SUCH INDIVIDUAL OR ENTITY TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.
You are solely responsible for your activity while using the Platform. As a condition of use of the Platform, you represent and warrant that you shall not use the Platform for any purpose that is unlawful, illegal, or prohibited by these Terms. You agree to abide by all applicable federal, state, local, rules, or regulations (including, without limitation, any laws regarding the export of data or software to and from the U.S. or other countries and all applicable state privacy laws). You agree to maintain a positive sense of decorum in all of your interactions with other users on the Platform.
Electronic Communications.
Express Consent. You hereby expressly consent to GoStork sending or otherwise communicating with you for any purpose (including, without limitation, marketing or promotional purposes) via any electronic means or forms as GoStork deems appropriate in its sole discretion, whether through the Services, through your user account in the Platform, by personal communication, by e-mail, by automatic telephone dialing system, by text message (e.g., short message service a/k/a SMS, and multimedia messaging service a/k/a MMS) or by other electronic media means or forms. By giving such consent, you agree that no such communication shall violate the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, the CAN-SPAM Act, or any other applicable laws, rules, or regulations. Voice, message, and data fees, rates, charges, and taxes may apply to you, and you are responsible for any related fees or payments due. You are not required to grant the foregoing consent as a condition to use the Services.
E-mail Opt-Out. You may opt-out of receiving any e-mails as described above any time by following the opt-out instructions in any such e-mails. You may also opt-out of receiving certain e-mails by managing your electronic communication preferences through your user account. You acknowledge that opting out of receiving any such communications may impact your receipt, the success, and/or the performance of all or any part of the Platform and/or your ability to receive certain messages and/or notifications from GoStork.
Text Message Opt-Out. You may opt-out of receiving any text messages (e.g., short message service a/k/a SMS, and multimedia messaging service a/k/a MMS) as described above at any time by following the opt-out instructions in any such text messages. You may also opt-out of receiving certain text messages by managing your electronic communication preferences through your user account. You acknowledge that opting out of receiving any such communications may impact your receipt, the success, and/or the performance of all or any part of the Platform and/or your ability to receive certain messages and/or notifications from GoStork.
The Platform, including all text, images, designs, graphics, content, source code, object code, data, features, functionality (including but not limited to all information, software, displays, enablement of video and audio, and the design, selection, and arrangement thereof) are owned by us, our licensors, or other providers of such materials. For purposes of clarity, we own the rights to the compilation, arrangement, and assembly, along with any modifications, variations, updates, versions, and changes to all information entered and stored within our database(s) as part of the Platform. This material, collectively, is protected by United States copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret, and other intellectual property or proprietary rights laws. The information on this Platform is for your personal, noncommercial use only; any user who decides to download, copy, reproduce, upload or otherwise convey any material from this Platform, including the names of donors or surrogates, is prohibited from resale or commercial use of that information.
Any links on this Platform are provided for your convenience only, and GoStork does not control, endorse or make any representations about any of these other sites or the information provided therein. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT GOSTORK SHALL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE OR LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGE OR LOSS CAUSED OR ALLEGED TO BE CAUSED BY, OR IN CONNECTION WITH, YOUR RELIANCE ON ANY INFORMATION, ANY GOOD, ANY SERVICE, OR ANY OTHER MATERIAL PROVIDED THROUGH A THIRD-PARTY WEBSITE.
THE PLATFORM AND THE MATERIALS PROVIDED ON THE PLATFORM ARE PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS WITHOUT ANY WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NON-INFRINGEMENT OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY. GOSTORK DOES NOT WARRANT THE ACCURACY OR CURRENCY OF THE MATERIALS ON AT THIS PLATFORM. GOSTORK DOES NOT WARRANT THAT MATERIALS ON THIS PLATFORM ARE UP TO DATE, NOR DOES GOSTORK WARRANT THAT THE PLATFORM WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, ERROR-FREE, OR FREE OF VIRUSES, WORMS OR OTHER MALICIOUS SOFTWARE. DONOR AND SURROGATE DESCRIPTIONS, HISTORY, OR OTHER PERSONAL INFORMATION IS PROVIDED BY THEM PERSONALLY AND IS NOT SUBJECT TO VERIFICATION BY GOSTORK. GOSTORK RESERVES THE RIGHT TO MODIFY THE PLATFORM OR THESE TERMS AT ANY TIME.
GOSTORK OR ITS OWNERS OR EMPLOYEES ARE NOT LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES, CLAIMS OR LOSSES WHATSOEVER ARISING OUT OF THE USE, INABILITY TO USE, OR THE RESULTS OF USE OF THIS PLATFORM, OR SITES LINKED TO THIS PLATFORM OR THE MATERIALS OR INFORMATION CONTAINED ON THE PLATFORM, WHETHER THOSE DAMAGES, CLAIMS OR LOSSES ARE BASED ON WARRANTY, CONTRACT, TORT OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY.
Some jurisdictions do not permit us to exclude warranties and limit liabilities in these ways, so it is possible that these exclusions will not apply to certain users. In such event, the exclusions and limitations shall apply to the fullest extent permitted under applicable law.
Users are solely responsible for information they provide to GoStork. Users agree that information will be 1) accurate, current and complete; and 2) maintained and updated as changed. If GoStork has reasonable grounds to believe the user has provided information which is inaccurate, false, outdated, or inappropriate under Section 10 herein, GoStork has the right to suspend or terminate user’s account and ban user from any further use of the Platform. It is the sole and exclusive responsibility of the user to keep ID and password confidential, to limit and restrict access to user’s personal account, and to control access to the Platform through user’s personal computer. Any actions taken under the user ID or password will be deemed to be the action of the user, who is responsible and liable for those actions.
User agrees to release, indemnify, and hold harmless GoStork, employees, contractors and agents from any and all third party claims, liability, damages, actions, proceedings, and lawsuits arising directly or indirectly from user’s use of the Platform and its contents, including but not limited to attorneys’ fees and court costs. Where this indemnification may be limited by the local jurisdiction, this indemnification will apply to the extent allowed by law. This provision shall survive any termination of these Terms.
As the Platform develops, users may be asked to provide comment or other communication on the Platform. Any user submissions will be considered non-confidential and non-proprietary, and GoStork will be free to copy, disclose and otherwise use for non-commercial or commercial uses any communication submitted by users. Users are prohibited from posting or transmitting to or from this Platform any unlawful, threatening libelous, defamatory, obscene, pornographic or other material that would violate any state, federal or international law, including without limitation, any material that would infringe upon the intellectual property or other rights of a third party.
California requires all online businesses that collect and manage information from California residents, including websites that reside in other states or in an international jurisdiction, to have a Privacy Policy that meets the requirements of the California Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), Connecticut (2018 Conn. Gen. Statutes, Title 42, Chapter 743dd, §42-471), Delaware (Del. Code Title 6, Chapter 12C, §1205C), and Nevada (Nev. Rev. Statutes, Chapter 603A, §603A.340) also require Privacy Policies which describe how users may get a copy of the Privacy Practices, or opt-out of the commercial use of their information. ALL USERS IN ANY STATE SHOULD READ AND UNDERSTAND GOSTORK’S PRIVACY POLICY, WHICH DEFINES HOW GOSTORK WILL COLLECT AND USE THE INFORMATION USERS PROVIDE. YOUR CONSENT TO THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF USE IS ALSO EXPLICIT CONSENT TO OUR PRIVACY POLICY. PLEASE READ IT CAREFULLY. Other states may have additional regulations regarding commercial websites’ use of personally identified information, and GoStork will remain in compliance with these regulations. Any duty imposed on users by the regulations of their residential state are hereby incorporated by reference.
GoStork reserves the right to terminate the access of any user who violates any section of these Terms, without notice, at any time. In consideration for access to the Platform, user agrees that GoStork may, in its sole discretion, terminate the user’s access for any reason whatsoever, close the Platform or alter any aspect of it at any time, impose limits or restrict user access or make any other business decision affecting the Platform, without notice and without any liability to user. GoStork reserves the right to modify, amend, revise or change any portion of these Terms, and the related Privacy Policy at any time without prior notice. User will not be required to consent again to revised terms, as user’s continued use of the Platform, after notice on the Platform that changes have been made, will constitute acceptance of any amendments by user.
Except where prohibited, user agrees that the interpretation, construction and enforceability of these Terms will be governed in accordance with the laws of the state of Connecticut. User hereby consents and submits to the personal jurisdiction of the courts of Connecticut for any litigation related to these Terms. Except where prohibited, user agrees that all disputes, claims or causes of action connected with these Terms shall be resolved individually, and not give rise to any form of class action. Further, any judgments and awards will be limited to the extent allowed by law to actual out-of-pocket costs incurred, except that the prevailing party will be entitled to attorneys’ fees. Notice of any claim or cause of action must be served upon GoStork no later than 12 months after the occurrence of the event giving rise to the claim, or be forever barred. In the event of a dispute, the parties will make a good faith effort to resolve it without litigation. If the parties cannot resolve the dispute within 30 days, either party may submit such a dispute to mediation. If mediation cannot resolve the dispute, the parties are free to pursue all remedies and rights available under law.
THE PARTIES HERETO HEREBY WAIVE TRIAL BY JURY IN ANY LITIGATION, SUIT, OR PROCEEDING, IN ANY COURT WITH RESPECT TO, IN CONJUNCTION WITH, OR ARISING OUT OF THESE TERMS OR THE PRIVACY POLICY OR THE VALIDITY, PROTECTION, INTERPRETATION, COLLECTION OR ENFORCEMENT THEREOF, AND/OR PERFORMANCE OF THE PLATFORM. THE PARTIES FURTHER AGREE THAT ANY LITIGATION, SUIT, OR PROCEEDING WILL BE CONDUCTED ONLY ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS AND NOT IN A CLASS, CONSOLIDATED, OR REPRESENTATIVE ACTION.
These Terms, and the related Privacy Practices policy are the entire agreement between the parties. No failure or delay by GoStork to assert a right under these Terms or in law or equity, shall be deemed a waiver of that right. Any section of these Terms which is found to be unenforceable or invalid for any reason, shall be severable and not affect the validity or enforceability of any other condition or right. These Terms will inure to the benefit of GoStork, its successors, assigns and licensees.