The Illinois General Assembly yesterday passed the Equality for Every Family Act (HB 2568), which updates the state’s parentage laws to better protect the children of LGBTQ parents and others formed via assisted reproduction.
The bill had already passed the legislature once and been sent to Governor JB Pritzker (D) back in June, but Pritzker issued an amendatory veto because of a drafting error in the text. Once the error was corrected, the bill had to re-pass the House and Senate, which it did on October 15 and 29, respectively. It now goes back to Gov. Pritzker for his final review and signature. [Update: 12/12/2025: The governor has signed this into law.]
“When my child was born, I was told I couldn’t be on his birth certificate — because I am not a man, because I am nonbinary, and because I am in a queer relationship, I was presumed not to be his parent. Today, Illinois has taken a powerful step to right that wrong,” said Iggy V Ladden, executive director and founder of the Chicago Therapy Collective, in a press release. “The Equality for Every Family Act affirms that every family deserves recognition, protection, and dignity. No more erasure, no more legal hoops. We are equal under the law. Period.”
Among other things, the legislation lays out equitable paths to parentage for LGBTQ families and those formed via assisted reproduction, including surrogacy. It establishes a uniform and streamlined confirmatory adoption provision for children born through assisted reproduction, where the intended parents are already recognized as the legal parents, following similar laws in California, Colorado, Maine, Maryland, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Virginia.
The paths to parentage now also include voluntary acknowledgments of parentage: simple, free forms that can be completed at the hospital immediately after a birth (or later) to establish legal parentage. While all states are required by federal law to have such forms for different-sex couples, Illinois becomes the 15th state that explicitly states parents of any gender or marital status can access them, after California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington, per the Movement Advancement Project.
Overall, the legislation updates state law to better align with the 2017 Uniform Parentage Act (UPA), model parentage legislation developed by the non-partisan Uniform Law Commission, which includes gender-neutral language and provisions that better reflect family formation today. Illinois is now the 12th state to enact comprehensive legislation based on or substantially similar to the 2017 UPA, following California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington. (Additionally, New Hampshire and New York have comprehensive parentage legislation that is not based on the UPA, per the Movement Advancement Project.)
“The Equality for Every Family Act honors our state’s values of equality and inclusion and ensures that state law sees and respects every family in Illinois, especially LGBTQ+ families who are under relentless attack by the federal administration,” said Mike Ziri, director of public policy at Equality Illinois.
Courtney Joslin, University of California-Davis law professor, added, “This critical legislation fills gaps in existing Illinois parentage law” said . “Having comprehensive parentage laws is critical for the security and stability of children and their families.” Joslin was the Reporter for the Uniform Parentage Act of 2017 (UPA 2017), on which this legislation is based.
“I am incredibly proud to be a citizen of Illinois,” said Nidhi Desai, Director of Assisted Reproductive Technology for the Academy of Adoption and Assisted Reproduction Attorneys. “Every family deserves legal recognition and protection, regardless of how they are formed, and this legislation takes great strides to protect vulnerable families and children to ensure they have the same rights as all other families.”
The legislation was sponsored by Senate President Don Harmon (D) and State Rep. Tracy Katz Muhl (D), and supported by Chicago Therapy Collective, Illinois State Bar Association, Chicago Bar Association, Office of the Cook County Public Guardian, Uniform Law Commission, Illinois AFL-CIO, Chicago Federation of Labor, Personal PAC, Sierra Club Illinois, Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, Planned Parenthood Illinois Action, and Planned Parenthood Great Rivers Action.
The legislation goes into immediate effect once Governor Pritzker signs it, except for the provisions related to voluntary acknowledgments of parentage, which go into effect January 1, 2026.