The Massachusetts Parentage Act (MPA), which would update state parentage laws to better protect all children, including those with LGBTQ parents, did not make it through the legislative process before the session ended July 31. Advocates say they will continue fighting for it in the next session.
Despite being the first state in the U.S. to enact marriage equality, Massachusetts is now the only New England state that has not comprehensively reformed its parentage laws to protect children regardless of the circumstances of their birth or the gender or marital status of their parents. The MPA (S.1133Â /Â H.1714) would change this by clarifying who can be a parent and the many ways to establish parentage; clarifying that a de facto parent (someone who has functioned as a parent with consent of the legal parent) has equal rights and responsibilities to any other type of parent; removing gendered language from parentage statutes; and adding protections for children born through assisted reproduction, including surrogacy. It would also expand access to Voluntary Acknowledgments of Parentage (VAPs), simple, free forms that can be completed at the hospital immediately after a birth to establish legal parentage. (For further details, see my piece from July 2021.)
The bill has bipartisan support and had a hearing before the Legislature’s Joint Committee on the Judiciary last November, where it seemed to have been well received. The committee failed, however, to move it on to the next stage of the legislative process during a busy legislative session.
James Nichols-Worley, who was born to two dads via a gestational surrogate and was the first child born in Massachusetts to have both of his fathers listed on his birth certificate, noted in a statement that “17 years after my birth, still no statutes at all provide clarity or consistency for children born through surrogacy. Each family still has to experience delays, uncertainty, and inconsistency, and the worry and stress that entails. I know I am not alone—it is not just children born through surrogacy who experience vulnerability but also other children born through assisted reproduction, children being raised by non-biological parents or de facto parents, and more.” He added, “Families are still at risk of being separated and parents continue to jump through expensive, humiliating hoops just to protect their kids.”
Polly Crozier, senior staff attorney at GLAD (GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders), said in a statement, “I’m disappointed that Massachusetts families remain without important parentage protections, putting them at risk and forcing them to take costly, humiliating, and time-consuming measures to ensure their kids are fully protected.” She said this was “particularly frustrating” after the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision that cast doubt on previous rulings about marriage and privacy rights for LGBTQ people. “More than ever, we need state statutes that provide clarity and consistency for children born through assisted reproductive technology and families created through other paths to parenthood,” she asserted.
At the same time, she said, “The work we’ve done to get to this point has been transformational.” The MPA Coalition led by GLAD now includes more than 40 organizations and many impacted families. It has helped raise awareness among legislators, legal advocates, and the media about the harms of the currently outdated laws and the need for greater parentage protections for LGBTQ parents and others. Those endorsing the bill include state Attorney General Maura Healey, the City of Boston, the Boston Globe, and Mass Lawyers Weekly.
Although the MPA did not become law, the legislative session did see one significant win for the LGBTQ community. Governor Charlie Baker (R) on July 29 signed a bill into law (H.5090) affirming that access to gender-affirming care and to reproductive care, including abortion, is a right in Massachusetts, for both residents and those who may travel from out of state to receive it. It also protects patients and providers of such care from out-of-state lawsuits. Crozier said, “Parents across the country bring their transgender children to Massachusetts to receive quality individualized, interdisciplinary care. With state legislatures passing unprincipled laws restricting the ability of parents to care for their children and putting transgender young people in harm’s way, it’s incredibly powerful to have Massachusetts state unequivocally that access to evidence-based gender-affirming healthcare is a right.”
As for the MPA, “We will not stop fighting for every family’s right to safety, security, and equality—including in the next legislative session,” she avowed. “The Coalition will come back strong.”
Visit the MPA Coalition website and follow them on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to keep up with news and next steps.
To learn more about protecting LGBTQ families after the Dobbs decision, see this post.