All those will be increasingly available to men and women as advances in assisted reproductive technology continue to make creating babies via ART easier, more reliable and less expensive.
Most state statutes governing sperm donation do not require the state to assess the intent of the donor and recpipients: if the donor qualifies as a parent or potential support obligor under state law, the state can go after him.
With in vitro fertilization and egg donation, gay intended parents face the emotional decision of whose sperm to use, an issue gay couples must discuss openly.
The U.S. Supreme Court announced today it will consider the case of California’s Proposition 8, passed in 2008, which stripped California same-sex couples of the right to marry. A U.S. District Appeals Court earlier had struck down Prop 8 on the basis it was unconstitutional. Some LGBT advocates are disappointed with today’s announcement because, had the Supreme Court refused to hear the case, same-sex marriage would have resumed in California almost immediately. The Supreme Court will consider California's Proposition 8 banning same-sex marriage, ruled unconstitutional by a U.S. appeals court, and the constitutionality of the federal Defense of Marriage Act.
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.
The new law provides guidance relating to the manner in which surrogacy agreements must be executed, when medical procedures can be commenced, and where parental establishment cases may be filed--many procedures already utilized by experienced assisted reproduction practitioners but not required by law.
The Illinois Department of Public Health recently reversed its discriminatory policy and instructed that names of both same-sex intended parents be entered on birth certificates in gestational surrogacy cases, following the intent of the Illinois Gestational Surrogacy Act enacted in 2005.
Japanese scientists produced viable eggs from the skin cells of mice and earlier successfully created sperm from the embryonic stem cells of mice, opening up a world of future possibilities for assisted reproductive technology.
The island state of Tasmania recently became the last remaining Australian state to legalize altruistic (unpaid) surrogacy. Under the new law, the surrogate must be at least 25 years old and have been pregnant before. Gay and lesbian couples as well as heterosexual couples may become parents via surrogacy.
Tommy and I were so honored, with our two boys, to be featured in a new one-act play by Del Shores, The Assembly Line, a benefit for Family Equality Council. I thought about the play's wedding scene as I stayed up late watching the 2012 election results.
Rich Vaughn and Tommy Woelfel attended the Halloween Parade 2012 at their sons' preschool.
Rich Vaughn with Carole A. Bass and Steven Weissman were panelists at the annual Continuing Legal Education Conference of the American Bar Association in Philadelphia on Oct. 12, speaking on “What Every Assisted Reproduction Lawyer Needs to know about Estate Planning.”
I'll be part of a panel on estate planning for ART families at the Continuing Legal Education Conference of the American Bar Association in Philadelphia Oct. 10-13.
The U.S. Supreme Court returned from its summer break to face the largest number of LGBT equality cases it has ever faced in a single term. Three critical cases have the potential to make significant changes in how the government embraces the LGBT community.
Since there appears to have been neither a written gestational agreement nor court preapproval in this tragic Texas case, the parentage of the child may be determined under Texas laws predating the state's adoption of the gestational surrogacy standards set forth in the Uniform Parentage Act.
Just signed by Gov. Jerry Brown, the new law is the most significant surrogacy legislation ever enacted in California and may serve as a model for legislation in other states, offering legal protection for family formation via artificial reproductive technology (ART) and surrogacy.
The show features a non-traditional “family” that includes a gay male couple, the surrogate with whom they are having a baby, the surrogate’s young daughter, the surrogate’s disapproving and deeply prejudiced mother, and the daughter’s biological father.
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.
The Windsor case highlights one of the most onerous consequences of DOMA, which is the financial penalty same-sex couples incur via estate taxes and loss of Social Security benefits when one partner dies.
An assisted reproduction agreement for gestational carriers (surrogates), containing required information and legally notarized, would have to be executed prior to embryo transplantation or administration of medications used in assisted reproduction; in other words, it would be illegal to execute a surrogacy agreement with the intended parents after the surrogacy was already pregnant, as has occurred in a recent court case.
For the first time in history, Argentina recognized a gay couple as legal parents of a child born from surrogacy. On June 29, 2012, baby Tobias was born in New…
Assisted reproductive technology methods offer hope to mature couples looking to build a family later in life, when conception may otherwise be a challenge.
The death of Lesley Brown, the first mother to conceive using in vitro fertilization and deliver a healthy baby—a girl, Louise--sparked a number of retrospectives on the birth of IVF.
Demonstrators advocated a wide variety of issues including LGBT rights, legalizing in vitro fertilization and migrant-worker benefits.
The number of gay couples forming families is on a steady rise from previous years. Gay and lesbian couples around the world are finding new hope creating families using ART methods.
How will you share your child’s birth story? The American Fertility Association has some suggestions on speaking with your egg donor child
Indian actor Ranbir Kapoor, has learned of the importance of sperm donation through film.
An estimated 6 million to 14 million children have a lesbian or gay parent. Egg donation, surrogacy and IVF play a major role in forming these modern families who may not have had the opportunity to have children otherwise.
Egg donation helps conceive a child who is genetically linked both to the donor and the recipient parents (assuming the recipients contribute sperm for the IVF cycle).
In Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security vs Capato, on Behalf of B. N. C. et al., the Court reversed the decision of the Third U.S. District Court and ruled that Karen Capato is not entitled to receive Social Security benefits for her twins, who were conceived after her husband’s death.
Surrogacy laws vary from state to state. Some states offer no legal standing for surrogacy agreements and only grant court orders on a per-case basis, which leaves would-be parents and surrogates in precarious positions.
“Infertility is a disease that affects about 6 million American couples, roughly 10 percent of the reproductive age population.”
Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) has been used in the U.S. for over 30 years as a means for couples with fertility struggles to start a family. ART includes a variety of fertility treatments, such as in vitro fertilization (IVF).
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.
Legislation under consideration by the New Jersey state legislature, as a result of a recent state Supreme Court case, would help establish parental rights for infertile men or women who become parents via surrogacy.
U.S. Supreme Court to Hear Survivor Benefit Case for IVF Children of Deceased Parents. In vitro fertilization (“IVF”) after the death of a spouse is made increasingly possible due to the fact that the technology exists to freeze gametes and embryos and thaw them later for future use
Rich Vaughn, fertility law lawyer in Los Angeles with International Fertility Law Group, on coming out at 27, finding true love, creating a family and raising children.
New York court upholds and gives full faith and credit to a California judgment of paternity awarded to two men who had twins through gestational surrogacy... despite New York's public policy against surrogacy.
The unanimous 3-0 decision deals a critical blow to Florida's 33-year-old law banning adoption by gay men and lesbians.
The California Supreme Court held in May 2009 that the estimated 18,000 couples who married in California between that court’s marriage equality decision in May 2008 and Prop 8’s passage on November 4, 2008 remain validly married under California law.
Wisconsin Supreme Court Says Insurance Company Cannot Exclude Surrogacy Coverage
Family Planning Documents are drafted to clarify your intentions as to who has authority to make these important decisions regarding your and your child(ren)’s health, medical care, and guardianship in the event of your death or incapacity.
Surrogacy Issues for Non-U.S. Intended Parents. Three 5 minute online interviews with Fertility Law Expert, Richard Vaughn.
There are actually quite a few legislative proposals being debated all across the country relating to assisted reproduction at the moment which could eventually have dramatic consequences (positive and negative) for your ART journey.
Bill saying that the District would provide a road map for gay rights activists in other jurisdictions, including possibly Maryland.
If you are undergoing fertility treatment or using assisted reproductive technology to create a family, at some point, you will confront a stack of forms provided by your physician.
ICWA to protect the best interests of Indian children and to promote the stability and security of Indian tribes and families by establishing specific standards that must be met before an Indian child may be removed from his or her family or placed in an adoptive or foster care placement.
No official agency keeps track of the number of would-be parents who travel to India for surrogacy. But the proliferation of clinics around the country providing such services gives some idea of the rising demand for surrogates
The UC Board of Regents has quietly settled a dozen lawsuits stemming from fertility fraud uncovered nearly 15 years ago -- drawing closer to an end a scandal that has dogged UC Irvine and left behind dozens of heartbroken couples.
Wisconsin Supreme Court to Decide Whether An Insurer Can Deny Maternity Coverage to a Surrogate
