In June 2013 an Ohio jury found the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati guilty of discrimination against an unmarried computer technology teacher, Christa Dias, who became pregnant and had a child via in vitro fertilization.
U.S. district court broke down another barrier to same-sex marriage in a crucial ruling for same-sex parents in Ohio who have out-of-state adoption degrees.
HB 187 places severe restrictions on what kind of surrogacy is allowed and what kind of intended parents are allowed to participate.
A recent ruling by the European Court of Justice denied the claims of two mothers via surrogacy who had petitioned their employers for maternity leave.
A do-it-yourself insemination of a surrogate can lead to a host of unintended and unfortunate legal consequences—as one recent U.K. court case shows.
An exciting new technology offers the promise of diagnosing mysterious and rare causes of infertility by using nanoparticles to penetrate sperm.
The U.S. Supreme Court's June 2013 decision in United States v. Windsor set the stage for the issue’s repeat appearance in front of the high court.
Attorney General Eric Holder plans to announce added recognition for same-sex married couples, vowing to treat same-sex spouses just like opposite-sex spouses.
Although the number of babies per IVF birth has dropped, today most of those multiples are twins. The next goal of professionals in the field is to reduce the number of twins.
It’s exciting to get to know people from all over the world and a privilege to play a small part in this tremendously important time in their lives.
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.
Some 65 babies born or about to be born and their gay intended parents are trapped in a kind of legal limbo in Thailand, where the surrogate mothers reside.
The Kansas sperm donor who was sued for child support by the state Department for Children and Families (DCF) has had his day in court.
Six couples and Equality Florida Institute filed suit asking a Florida state court to overturn Florida’s ban on same-sex marriage on the grounds that it violates their rights under the U.S. Constitution.
Another domino fell last week as another federal judge struck down a same-sex marriage ban in another conservative state—the second such occurrence in less than 30 days.
Defenders of Utah’s gay marriage ban seem likely to force the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in again on same-sex marriage, sooner rather than later.
The New Mexico Supreme Court ruled December 19 that prohibiting same-sex couples from marrying is a violation of the anti-discrimination clause in the state’s Constitution, making New Mexico the 17th U.S. state to legalize same-sex marriage.
The Today Show, as part of a series on ART, recently highlighted technological improvements that have resulted in fewer births of triplets and higher multiples and, increasingly, fewer births of twins.
Growing Generations, surrogacy and egg donation agency, was featured recently in an article in DuJour Magazine about the growing numbers of single men choosing to become parents via surrogacy.
In the movie “Delivery Man,” Vince Vaughn stars as a Joe Sixpack sort of guy who delivers meat for his father’s company and whose pregnant girlfriend doesn’t want him around.…
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…
With the relaxing of China's one-child policy, the number of Chinese intended parents coming to the U.S. to create families via assisted reproductive technology is likely to increase.
AFA’s recent initiative to help members of the U.S. armed forces and their families by providing information and resources and providing discounted infertility treatment and preservation services to service members.
Illinois has become the 15th state to legalize same-sex marriage. Although Governor Pat Quinn has yet to sign the bill into law, he urged state legislators to pass it and has promised to sign.
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.
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
Delaware law now authorizes such agreements and establishes clear standards and procedures for defining the relationship of parent and child resulting from gestational surrogacy
Restrictions on surrogate compensation make family formation via assisted reproductive technology (“ART”) a challenge for many single men. In India and Ukraine, two of the few countries where commercial surrogacy is allowed, single men are excluded.
I am pleased to report that the following article I wrote on California surrogacy law was published recently in the Family Law Review. To read full article click here: (2013) 3…
The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled yesterday, July 11, that surrogacy agreements, under which a woman agrees to carry and give birth to a child for the child’s intended parent or parents, are legal and enforceable.
A new California law will allow women who donate eggs for medical research to be compensated.
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.
The Child-Parent Security Act is in committee in the New York State legislature. The bill, introduced last May by Assemblywoman Amy Paulin (D-88th), would legalize surrogacy in the state.
As a member of the American Fertility Association’s board of directors, I’m very proud to have been part of Illuminations LA 2013 on April 13.
There is a very interesting and potentially ground-breaking case being heard in the U.K. courts right now about the role of sperm donors in the lives of the children they help to create.
Our family is featured in a recent issue of Pink Parenting as part of a series on the families that are part of a print campaign by our partner agency, Growing Generations.
Tommy Woelfel and Rich Vaughn along with their twin boys are featured currently in a London Times Magazine article, Inside gay Hollywood’s baby boom, by Rhys Blakeley.
A new type of loan provides funding to help cover fertility costs.
A bill to fund fertility services for injured U.S. veterans passed the Senate at the end of 2012 but was stopped in the House due to budget concerns.
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.
