Vice | March 18, 2021
Surrogacy and LGBTQ+ rights both lie in a legally grey area in China. Same sex couples in China who want to have a child sometimes seek surrogates and fertility treatment abroad––which involves prohibitive cost.
Portland Passes LGBTQ+ Inclusive Fertility Health Coverage for City Employees
Danny Peterson | KOIN 6 News | January 6, 2021
The Portland City Council unanimously passed an ordinance to include single and LGBTQ city employees in their fertility and family planning health benefits. Previous exclusions in coverage leading to high out-of-pocket expenses for fertility treatments, adoption, surrogacy, or fostering had disproportionate effects on marginalized communities. Elected officials expressed excitement about breaking down barriers for city employees who hope to become parents.
Blue and White Propose Gay Surrogacy Bill, Opposed by Netanyahu Faction
Gil Hoffman | The Jerusalem Post | December 1, 2020
Israel’s Blue and White party has submitted three new bills, including one that would allow gay men to hire surrogates within the country, expand the pool of local surrogates, and regulate international arrangements.
Russian Investigators Target Gay Fathers
Elena Barysheva | DW.com | October 17, 2020
This article features Vladimir, a father in Russia, who fears arrest after authorities recently threatened to arrest single men who had children through IVF and surrogacy. Critics state that investigators are using a separate human trafficking case involving surrogacy for foreign heterosexual couples as a pretext to discriminate against and criminalize gay men.
I’ve Studied How People Build Their Families for Decades
Susan Golombok | Time | October 14, 2020
The director of the UK Centre for Family Research at the University of Cambridge shares key findings from 40 years of research on families with gay fathers, lesbian mothers, single mothers by choice, transgender parents, adoptive parents, and those who have children through egg or sperm donation or surrogacy. She found that the most important factor is not the structure of the family but the quality of relationships, community support, and societal attitudes.
Court Rules That Son of Gay Binational Couple Born Abroad by Surrogacy Is U.S. Citizen
Muri Assunção | Daily News | October 9, 2020
Following years of legal battle, a child born through surrogacy in Canada to a binational gay couple was ruled a US citizen by an appellate court. The US State Department had repeatedly rejected the child’s citizenship status but not that of his twin’s. The Executive Director of LGBTQ advocacy group Immigration Equality remarked that this decision “demonstrates yet again that it is far past time for the State Department to change its discriminatory policy.”
Read the full article here ->
Judge: Gay Couple’s Child Born in England is a U.S. Citizen
Kate Brumback | Washington Post | August 31, 2020
A US federal judge has ruled on the case of a gay couple in the state of Georgia, recognizing that their daughter, who was born to a surrogate in England, is a U.S. citizen. This ruling comes after another victory in a similar case of a gay US couple, in which citizenship was initially denied to a child born to a surrogate in Canada. In recent years, the State Department has made significant efforts to contest the citizenship status of gay couples’ children born to surrogates in other countries.
State Department Appeals Ruling Recognizing U.S. Citizenship of Gay Couple’s Daughter
Michael K. Lavers | Washington Blade | August 18, 2020
Roee and Adiel Kiviti of Chevy Chase, Maryland had a child born to a surrogate in Canada, only to learn that the US State Department would not recognize the American citizenship of their daughter. After a district judge ruled in favor of the couple, the State appealed the decision, continuing the legal battle. There have been several similar cases of discrimination against gay couples and their children in the US.
An American Surrogate Had His Baby. Then Coronavirus Hit.
By Emily Shugerman | The Daily Beast | August 01, 2020
A month before Sierra Martin, a surrogate in Washington State, US, was due to give birth, one of the intended parents asked if she could care for the baby if he was unable to travel due to the coronavirus. This article highlights the story of Martin, a single mother who has been caring for the baby for months, and Li, one of the two fathers in China who was denied entry to the US. Martin was concerned about bonding with the baby and having to give him away. Li is among hundreds of parents who face barriers retrieving their children from the US in the midst of the pandemic.
‘Equal Parentage’ Bill Is Signed Into Law by Governor
By Katie Mulvaney | Providence Journal | July 21, 2020
On July 21, the Equal Parentage bill was passed in Rhode Island, giving same-sex couples, unmarried people, and others who have children through assisted reproduction technologies an avenue to establish legal parentage at birth. The bill eliminates the need for non-birth parents to complete “second-parent” adoptions, addresses some aspects of surrogacy arrangements, and provides guidance for children conceived through sperm donation to find information on the donor when they turn 18.