Massachusetts’ Democratic-controlled Senate voted unanimously Tuesday to update the state’s parentage laws, adding protections that advocates say are long overdue for LGBTQ families and children born through surrogacy and assisted reproductive techniques.
The Massachusetts Parentage Bill, introduced earlier this year by Representatives Sarah K. Peake (D) and Hannah Cain (R), would change the state’s definition of parentage to expand protections for non-biological parents. It would also remove gender-specific and outdated language, such as “child born out of wedlock,” from the state’s current law.
“At the heart of this bipartisan bill is a simple yet profound principle: Recognition of legal parentage should not be subject to outdated norms or narrow definitions,” Kaine said in a statement last month.
The bill also passed the Massachusetts House of Representatives unanimously in June, but must be approved again by the House of Representatives before it can be sent to Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey (D), who has said she will sign it.
“We are proud to be a leader and pioneer in the nation when it comes to LGBTQ+ equality, but we still have some catching up to do,” Healey, the state’s first gay governor and the nation’s fourth openly LGBTQ governor-elect, said in April.
Massachusetts is the last state in New England to hold out against adopting comprehensive parentage laws that include explicit protections for LGBTQ families and children born through assisted reproductive techniques such as surrogacy and in vitro fertilization. Under current law, non-biological parents must legally adopt a child to gain full custody.
Parentage law, also known as parental recognition law, establishes a legal relationship between parents and children and allows parents to make medical and other decisions on their children’s behalf.
If passed, the Massachusetts Parentage Act would play a key role in ensuring that all children, regardless of how and to whom they were born, can enjoy the security of legal parentage, advocates said.
“With this vote, the Massachusetts Senate has demonstrated that fairness under the law is equal for everyone,” said Polly Crozier, director of family advocacy for GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders, a national LGBTQ civil rights group. In a statement Following Tuesday’s vote.
“We are grateful to the many people, families and advocates who have fought for years to get to this point,” said Crozier, who helped draft the bill.
“There are many equally valid paths to parenthood,” said Sen. Julian Saia, D-Massachusetts and one of the bill’s Senate sponsors. He told Statehouse News Service “And biological ties are not the only thing that create the bonds that form a family,” he said this week.
