08 Apr 2020 International Intended Parents: Getting Home with Your Baby During COVID-19
Join assisted reproductive technology attorneys Rich Vaughn and Molly O’Brien of International Fertility Law Group as they share information and advice for international intended parents planning to travel for the births of their babies via surrogacy in the United States during the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. Getting...
03 Apr 2020 ART Attorneys Urge Emergency Action on Newborn Passports During COVID-18 Crisis
Among the many challenges intended parents are facing during the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic is the difficulty in obtaining newborn passports enabling them to take their babies born via surrogacy in the United States back to their home countries. In a still developing story, assisted reproduction attorneys...
02 Jan 2020 Cuomo Vows to Take on New York Surrogacy Ban Again in 2020
In advance of his January 8 state-of-the-state address, Governor Andrew Cuomo has promised to renew his efforts to end New York’s statewide surrogacy ban in 2020 and to provide the strongest protections for surrogates and intended parents anywhere in the U.S. Cuomo and other progressive legislators...
09 Oct 2019 France Recognizes Intended Parents After 19 Years of Litigation
After 19 years of court battles and legal ups and downs, the French Court of Final Appeal has recognized Sylvie and Dominique Mennesson as the legal parents of their twin daughters, born via surrogacy in California in 2000. The court issued its decision recognizing the Mennessons’...
02 Aug 2019 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...
18 Jun 2019 Left Blocks Bill to Overturn NY Surrogacy Ban
Even as it approaches the finish line, legislation to finally end New York state’s ban on gestational surrogacy is facing vocal opposition from an unexpected source: the feminist left. We began writing about growing expectations that the state of New York was progressing toward ending its...
27 Feb 2019 Judge Rules Twins' Citizenship Not Contingent on Genetics
Amid so many gravely concerning headlines about immigration recently, at least one immigration story had a happy ending last week: A federal judge overturned the government’s earlier decision to deny U.S. citizenship to a twin boy born via IVF and surrogacy—while granting citizenship to his...
20 Jun 2017 Asia Trip Reminds of Continued Relevance of LGBT Pride Month
As an attorney with a busy practice, a husband and a father of two boys, my days usually fly by juggling responsibilities and deadlines, and there isn’t much time for reflection. But every now and then, the stars align and events coincide, and it almost...
25 Feb 2015 ECHR Condemns Italy for Removing Child Born via Surrogacy Abroad
In its most recent ruling on families formed via assisted reproductive technology, the European Court of Human Rights has condemned Italian authorities for removing a child born to an Italian couple via surrogacy in Russia and placing the child in guardianship. In a heartbreaking twist,...
05 Feb 2015 Mitochondrial DNA Transfer Holds Hope for Women with Genetic Disorders
Britain’s Parliament voted this week to allow strictly limited use of a new fertility treatment that would allow women with a certain type of genetic disorder to become mothers without danger of passing the often life-threatening condition to their offspring. A human cell consists of two...
30 Jan 2015 Mexican Surrogacy Boom Spawns More Damaging Headlines
Due in part to legal restrictions on surrogacy in many jurisdictions and the high cost of surrogacy and other types of assisted reproductive technology, a brisk surrogacy tourism industry has emerged. Intended parents, usually from affluent Western societies, travel to remote parts of the globe,...
29 Dec 2014 How Far Does German Foreign Surrogacy Decision Go?
Several questions persist in the wake of last week’s German Supreme Court ruling ordering authorities to recognize the parentage of a gay couple who had a child via surrogacy in California (see our posts here and here). One key question is whether the judgment extends...
23 Dec 2014 Children Born Abroad via Surrogacy Entitled to Legal Parents, German Court Rules
In a landmark ruling released Dec. 19, Germany’s highest court essentially has paved the way for German intended parents via surrogacy to have their children recognized. Here is the best summary I have seen of the particulars of the ruling. In summary: The decision of the...
20 Dec 2014 Germany Recognizes Parentage of Babies Born Via Surrogacy Abroad
In a historic ruling today, Germany’s Supreme Court ruled that the government must recognize the children born via surrogacy in other countries as the legal offspring of German intended parents. In its ruling the high court stated that German authorities must respect the decisions of...
05 Nov 2014 AFA Shines Light on Path2Parenthood at Illuminations NYC
I traveled to New York this week to attend the American Fertility Association’s annual fundraising gala, Illuminations NYC, held Monday, Nov. 3, at The Yale Club of New York. This year’s honorees were leading U.S. biopharmaceutical firm EMD Serono Inc., recipient of the 2014 Advocacy Award;...
20 Oct 2014 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...
25 Sep 2014 New CA Birth Certificate Law Allows LGBT Parents to Identify as Mother, Father, Parent
Effective Jan. 1, 2016, birth certificates of babies born in California will no longer identify a mother and father but will instead use the gender-neutral term “parent”...
21 Aug 2014 Surrogacy Cases Gone Wrong in International Media
A number of high-profile cases of malfeasance or unethical activity related to international surrogacy have recently made headlines worldwide, fueling negative misconceptions. ...
15 Aug 2014 Bobbie Thomas Brings Her IVF Experience to the BUZZ
Thomas made the decision to use her highly visible Today Show podium as a way to get the topic out in the open and potentially make others undergoing fertility treatment feel more comfortable and less alone in the process....
01 Aug 2014 Thailand Closes Shop on Foreign Surrogacy Business
Earlier this month, the Thai military government conducted an audit of the nation’s in vitro fertilization and surrogacy agencies, a review that ultimately led to what by all reports was a virtual shutdown of the industry in Thailand....