Tennessee Adoption Law Among Surge of Discriminatory New ‘Religious Liberty’ Laws

Tennessee legislators passed a law this month that allows faith-based adoption and foster agencies to discriminate against LGBTQ people without jeopardizing their public funding. Governor Bill Lee has said he…

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Obstacles to Intercountry Adoption Add to Appeal of Assisted Reproduction

Growing obstacles to intercountry adoption have drastically reduced the number of children adopted by U.S. residents from other countries—making assisted reproduction an increasingly appealing alternative for many seeking to fulfill…

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Tennessee Lawmakers Propose Barrier for Married Lesbian Parents

The wheels of progress turn slowly, and in some parts of the world, leaders stand on the brakes, bring it to a screeching halt, then do their best to roll…

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Texas Birth Certificates to List 2 Moms, 2 Dads

The Texas Department of State Health Services made headlines last month when it revealed in a court filing that it would begin allowing same-sex parents’ names on children’s birth certificates—although…

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Denial of ‘Second Parent’ Adoption Puts Same-Sex Couples Parental Rights in Jeopardy

Earlier this month, in a ruling that rocked the worlds of same-sex couples and attorneys alike, a Brooklyn court denied the non-biological mother of a child born to a married lesbian couple the right to legally adopt her child.

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AAARTA Conference Offers Global Perspective on ART Law

Earlier this month I attended the American Academy of Assisted Reproductive Technology Attorneys (AAARTA) and American Academy of Adoption Attorneys Mid-Year Conference in Charleston, South Carolina. The conference, entitled “A…

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AFA’s Illuminations New York Honors Vardalos, Penzias

Honorees at the upcoming American Fertility Association New York Illuminations November 4 are Nia Vardalos, recipient of the 2013 Carol Berger Adoption Advocacy Award, and Dr. Alan S. Penzias, M.D. recipient of the Joyce M. Vargyas MD Visionary Award.

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SCOTUS ICWA Ruling

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled June 25 on a case related to the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), which was enacted in the late 1970s primarily to protect against the involuntary removal by child welfare authorities of children from Indian families for placement in non-Indian homes. The court decision.

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New Order Offers French Nationality to Children Born to Foreign Surrogates

Another development in France was the issuance of an order from the French Justice Minister Christiane Taubira that could have enormous impact on French families created via assisted reproductive technology.

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France Embraces Gay Marriage

France became the second nation in one month to take the first steps toward marriage equality. The “Marriage for All” bill spearheaded by President François Hollande’s Socialist party also grants the same right to all married couples to adopt children.

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Jewish Faith Supports Gay & Lesbian Families; Michigan Law Does Not

Both ‘traditional surrogacy,’ in which one woman provides the egg and carries the child, and ‘gestational surrogacy,’ in which one woman provides the egg and, after it is fertilized, another woman carries the child, are illegal for all people in Michigan, gay or straight.

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Utah’s ‘Normal’ Narrowly Defined

As demonstrated by the state legislature’s commendable move to protect all parties in surrogacy arrangements by passing AB 1217, California non-traditional families are lucky. In contrast, in Salt Lake City, Utah, The New Normal, a new TV sitcom about a gay male couple who are becoming dads via surrogacy, is not even being allowed to air.

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CSI segment highlights why it’s important to carefully vet your IVF agency

More recently, the popular television series, CSI featured an episode about a physician who fertilized a woman’s eggs with his own sperm without her knowledge and successfully implanted one of the resulting embryos.

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