15 Aug Surrogacy During COVID-19 Update for Intended Parents, Surrogates and Donors
Join Rich Vaughn of International Fertility Law Group and surrogacy professionals from all over the U.S. for the latest in a series of webinar discussions about the impacts and challenges of surrogacy during the COVID-19 coronavirus crisis for intended parents, surrogates, donors and third-party matching...
03 Jul Federal Court Rules Gay Dads’ Baby Born Via Surrogacy Abroad Is U.S. Citizen
A federal court has ruled, once again, that the child of a legally married gay couple, born via surrogacy abroad, is a U.S. citizen and has been since her 2019 birth—refuting the Trump administration’s continuing policy of defining her and other similar surrogate births to...
07 Dec Anti-ART Judges Threaten Reproductive Rights for Future Generations
For decades, assisted reproductive technology has been improving, advancing and expanding the potential for previously infertile people to become biological parents. But the recent influx of right-wing and anti-reproductive freedom judicial appointees has many people worried that legislative progress and technological advancements could be thwarted...
02 Aug Children Born Abroad Via Surrogacy Denied U.S. Citizenship
The conflict and division surrounding immigration in the United States have spread beyond border crossings and asylum claims. Based on a narrow interpretation of existing law, U.S. authorities have not only denied citizenship to the children of married U.S. citizens, they are applying the law...
19 Apr American Bar Calls Out Discrimination Against LGBTQ Parents
Many LGBT intended parents and their families rejoiced in 2015, when the U.S. Supreme Court, in Obergefell v. Hodges, legalized same-sex marriage in all 50 states. Finally, LGBT married couples would be treated the same as heterosexual married couples in the areas of parentage and...
29 Jan American Bar Association Ratifies 2019 ART Model Act
I’ve spent the past few days at the American Bar Association’s Midyear Meeting in sunny Las Vegas. It is always an honor and privilege to represent the ABA Assisted Reproduction Technology Committee (ART) and the Family Law Section in front of the ABA’s House of...
25 Jan Same-Sex Parents Sue State Department Over Genetics-Based Denial of Citizenship
The headlines have been full recently of the stories of two same-sex couples, one parents of twins, the other parents of sibling daughters, both suing the U.S. State Department in an attempt to secure citizenship denied to just one of their babies and granted to...
06 Nov What to Do With Abandoned Embryos
The problem began decades ago, in the late 1970s, as soon as the first babies created via the then-new technology of in vitro fertilization began to be born. It drew little notice for many years, growing slowly and steadily as a side-effect of the revolution...
30 Jun It’s A Book!
It’s finally out, in paper and in e-version! After three years of writing, rewriting, editing, proofreading and more of the same, as I was talking to potential intended parents in Shanghai and Taiwan a week ago, the book I co-wrote with colleague and fellow ART...
03 May A Million US Babies Have Been Born Via ART
The Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology, or SART, announced May 2 that, with preliminary 2015 data in, more than 1 million babies have been born in the United States via in vitro fertilization and other types of assisted reproductive technology since data collection began in...
13 Oct Presentations Aim to Advance Field of ART Law
The past several weeks have been a whirlwind of speaking engagements for me, primarily for the purpose of educating lawyers and sharing the knowledge and skills I’ve gained in the practice of the ever-evolving field of assisted reproductive technology law. There is great interest in ART...
13 Aug ABA Family Law Section Chair's Cup Awarded for First Time to ART Attorneys
I was highly honored recently, in my capacity as chair of the ART Committee of the American Bar Association's Family Law Section, to receive the ABA Family Law Section Chair's Cup award, presented by outgoing Section Chair Greg Ortiz. The award was presented jointly to me and my...
18 Jul Uncertain Status of Cryopreservation Agreements Creates Legal Conflict
With the growing use of cryopreservation, a method of freezing for future use eggs, sperm or embryos, we’re also seeing a growing amount of litigation resulting from disagreements as to their disposition. Sometimes a couple freezes eggs or sperm for medical reasons, such as cancer treatment, or merely in order to delay starting a family until a more opportune time. If the couple later separates, the partners may disagree about whether the eggs, sperm or embryo should be destroyed or preserved, how and when they can be used, and who has the right to make that decision.
Although such cases are still relatively uncommon (most people resolve these matters privately), as the technology improves and becomes more accessible to more people, it’s reasonable to assume such disagreements will occur more often. And as the law stands now, it’s anyone’s bet how these cases will wash out: in this area of law, it’s still the wild, Wild West.
Many couples sign a consent agreement or medical consent form, usually provided by their fertility agency, when they undergo egg or sperm harvesting or in vitro fertilization. Often, the clinic documents don’t cover what happens in the case of separation or divorce. Few intended parents go to a fertility thinking about what will happen if they get a divorce—most don’t want to think about it. However, it is incumbent upon the fertility services providers to make sure all eventualities are covered in these documents, and these intending parents must also be advised to carefully consider all eventualities before cryopreserving their genetic material.
But as things stand today, even the existence of a medical consent form addressing embryo disposition doesn’t rule out the prospect of conflict and litigation. Sometimes the court honors these consent forms, but not always.
06 Apr ABA Approves Model Act for Assisted Reproduction Agencies
The demand for assisted reproduction technology services is exploding. Of the nearly 2.7 million babies born in the United States in 2008, at least 38,496 (1.44 percent) were born via some form of ART. The financial cost to Intended Parents seeking to create a family...
31 Mar ABA Recommends Protecting Children’s Citizenship Rights
As more and more intended parents seek to create families via international surrogacy, national governments have been forced to consider their rules for parental recognition and citizenship of the resulting children. All too often children born via international surrogacy have been denied citizenship in their...
21 May International Surrogacy Conference Makes London Headlines
International surrogacy law is a hot topic in the London news today as we were honored to have Family Division Judge Dame Lucy Theis as our first speaker at the International Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers’ International Surrogacy Symposium, May 17-19, where I was invited to...
15 May Participation in Legal Conferences Means Better Client Service
May has been an especially busy month at International Fertility Law Group, with lots of travel and my participation in a series of excellent professional conferences and symposiums—all offering opportunities to meet with and learn from experienced colleagues from all over the world.I’m just back...
20 Oct ART for HIV+ Intended Parents is Hot Topic at Professional Conferences
I am fortunate to participate in two great professional conferences, both of which bring together some of the best minds in assisted reproductive technology to share best practices and advance knowledge in the field. The first, just ended on Saturday, Oct. 18, was the American...
09 Jun National Coalition Brainstorms Best Policies and Practices for ART Families
National Coalition provides a forum for the leaders in the field of ART to report on their current and planned activities, efforts and issues of greatest interest and concern in the United States. ...
16 May ABA Conference Helps Keep Family Law Attorneys at Top of Game
Continuing Legal Education Conference of the American Bar Association, Family Law Section, held in Southampton, Bermuda was an important opportunity for my colleagues in the fields of family law and fertility law. ...
20 Nov 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 Global Approach to Family Formation In the United States and Abroad,” attracted presenters and attendees...
11 Oct ASRM Conference Offers Meeting Opportunity for Model Act Work
One of ABA Family Law Section Committee on Assisted Reproductive Technology projects concerns updating the Model Act Governing Assisted Reproductive Technology in keeping with rapidly evolving customs and practices. ...
03 Oct ABA ART Committee Invites Students, Attorneys to Get Involved
The ABA Family Law Section ART Committee is always actively engaged in developing and producing high-quality continuing legal education and mentoring on ART law topic...
06 Sep ABA Committee on Assisted Reproduction
I was honored recently to be named chair of the American Bar Association’s Family Law Section Committee on Assisted Reproduction....
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