Jordan Williams | The Hill | August 5, 2021
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) updated its policy regarding children born through surrogacy and IVF abroad. The new policy means that a child born to a non-genetic or non-gestational parent will be a US citizen if the parent is married to the genetic or gestational parent. This allows for greater recognition of children born to same sex couples as well as families where there are not two genetic parents.
Australian Associated Press | The Guardian | July 27, 2021
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation covered a story about a couple’s surrogacy arrangement in a 2019 article about Ukraine’s commercial surrogacy industry. The couple sued ABC for allegedly portraying them as heartless parents who abandoned their surrogate-born, disabled child Bridget in Ukraine. This June, the couple withdrew their defamation case due to a lack of funds, but will still be asked to pay ABC’s legal costs.
Caitlin Huey-Burns | CBS News | July 20, 2021
Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth introduced the “Support Through Loss Act” which would require employers to provide at least three days paid leave following any reproductive loss, including miscarriage, failed adoption or surrogacy arrangement, or unsuccessful fertility procedure. Currently, the Family and Medical Leave Act allows people to take upwards of 12 weeks unpaid leave to care for a newborn or newly adopted child, but there is no paid leave program yet.
Cath Clarke | The Guardian | June 24, 2021
The Surrogate is a film about a woman who agrees to carry a child for her best friend and his husband. Their perspectives on the agreement diverge when a prenatal test indicates the baby will be born with Down’s syndrome. In this interview, writer-director Jeremy Hersh and actress Jasmine Batchelor share their thought process behind the film that showcases a complex intersection of race, abortion, sexuality, class, and disability.
Sylvia Perez | Fox 32 Chicago | April 21, 2021
Surrogacy-born babies in suburban Chicago continue to be stranded 15 months into the pandemic, miles away from their intended parents in Taiwan and China. Embassies there are not accepting in-person appointments, so the parents cannot obtain the necessary travel documents to pick up their children. One surrogacy agency worker and her husband have cared for four such babies in the last year during these bureaucratic delays.
Connor Perrett | Business Insider | May 18, 2021
The State Department announced that children born through surrogacy or IVF in other countries are automatically considered US citizens if one parent is a US citizen. Previously, children born abroad were required to be genetically related to the parent with US citizenship, but under the new policy, the genetic connection can be to either married parent. The updated policy will particularly alleviate the process of having children through assisted reproduction for same sex couples.
Katherine Plumhoff | Teen Vogue | April 9, 2021
This article describes the United States’ fertility industry as a commercial market in which egg donors are paid differential amounts based on race, social class, physical traits, and education level. It raises questions about whether targeted marketing may particularly entice low-income college students without providing adequate information about how little is known about the long-term risks. Researcher Dr. Diane Tober suggests increasing information about risks during the informed consent process, ongoing tracking of donor health, and eliminating the burden of the cost of education.
Nara Schoenberg | Chicago Tribune | April 5, 2021
Illinois state law requires large companies to cover fertility services if they offer pregnancy benefits. However, the requirement also details that couples must first try to conceive for a full year of unprotected sex, which excludes LGBTQ couples and single people. Representative Margaret Croke proposed a bill addressing these inequalities that will be reviewed by the House of Representatives by the end of May.
Carter Sherman | Vice | March 9, 2021
Many intended parents are asking agencies to match them with surrogates who agree not to get a COVID vaccine, despite the fact that contracting COVID during pregnancy could increase the risk of severity of the illness and also lead to pre-term birth. The article discusses the importance of communicating about the vaccine prior to entering into a contract, and raises the issue of the power differential between intended parents’ requirements in a contract and a surrogate’s ability to maintain bodily autonomy.
Annie Szatkowski | FOX 17 West Michigan | January 19, 2021
This article focuses on Tammy and Jordan Myers, a Michigan couple whose request for parental rights to their twin biological children born via a gestational carrier were denied by two judges. Under current state law, the couple will have to adopt the children. Michigan law prohibits all surrogacy, including arrangements without compensation. The couple hopes that the State legislature will introduce a fertility bill this year allowing intended parents of children born through surrogacy to more easily gain parental rights.
