PET PET
  • My Account
  • Subscribe
Become a Friend Donate
  • About Us
    • People
    • Press Office
    • Our History
  • Get Involved
    • Become a Friend of PET
    • Volunteer
    • Campaigns
    • Writing Scheme
    • Partnership and Sponsorship
    • Advertise with Us
  • Donate
    • Become a Friend of PET
  • BioNews
    • News
    • Comment
    • Reviews
    • Elsewhere
    • Topics
    • Glossary
    • Newsletters
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Previous Events
  • Engagement
    • Policy and Projects
      • Resources
    • Education
  • Jobs & Opportunities
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
    • People
    • Press Office
    • Our History
  • Get Involved
    • Become a Friend of PET
    • Volunteer
    • Campaigns
    • Writing Scheme
    • Partnership and Sponsorship
    • Advertise with Us
  • Donate
    • Become a Friend of PET
  • BioNews
    • News
    • Comment
    • Reviews
    • Elsewhere
    • Topics
    • Glossary
    • Newsletters
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Previous Events
  • Engagement
    • Policy and Projects
      • Resources
    • Education
  • Jobs & Opportunities
  • Contact Us
  • My Account
  • Subscribe
  • Privacy Statement
  • Advertising Policy
  • Thanks and Acknowledgements
PETBioNewsNewsNew Jersey Supreme Court deadlocked over maternal status in surrogacy

BioNews

New Jersey Supreme Court deadlocked over maternal status in surrogacy

Published 26 October 2012 posted in News and appears in BioNews 679

Author

Ruth Retassie

Image by Dr Christina Weis. © Christina Weis
Image by Dr Christina Weis. © Christina Weis

The New Jersey Supreme Court has failed to reach a majority verdict on whether a law that requires women to adopt a child born through surrogacy arrangements using donated eggs, to be considered the child's legal mother, discriminates against women affected by infertility....

The New Jersey Supreme Court has failed to reach a majority verdict on whether a law that requires women to adopt a child born through surrogacy arrangements using donated eggs, to be considered the child's legal mother, discriminates against women affected by infertility.

A couple, who had entered into a surrogacy arrangement using the man's sperm and eggs provided by an anonymous donor, had sued the state of New Jersey after it overturned a court order putting them both on the child's birth certificate, with the surrogate's consent, obtained before the child was born. The deadlock in the Supreme Court means that an earlier decision against the couple stands and the intending mother, who has been raising the child with her husband for three years, must now apply to formally adopt the child.

New Jersey law states that only women with a genetic connection to the child can be considered the legal mother. Within surrogacy, if the intending mother uses donated eggs, then she must formally adopt the child as a step-mother. However, if a husband consents to using donated sperm to inseminate his wife, then under the Parentage Act the law makes the presumption that he is the legal father.

The couple argued this was unfair and the law discriminates against women who require the use of donated eggs. However, the six Supreme Court justices issued a split decision, with those deciding against the couple saying it was for the state legislators to make laws on public policy — although a measure to do this was vetoed by the state's Governor, Republican Chris Christie, this year.

'If one recognises that the legislature could, and did, base its distinction between presumptive rights of men and women on the realities of our physiological differences, then those distinctions can and must survive a constitutional attack', ruled Justice Helen Hoens, against the couple.

Justice Barry Albin disagreed, however. He wrote: 'Despite the obvious anatomical and physiological differences between the infertile husband and wife, once a surrogate knowingly and voluntarily surrenders her parental rights, their situations are not meaningfully different'.

Commenting on the case, Diane Hinson, a Maryland lawyer specialising in surrogacy, said: 'Nobody wants to make a decision. It's a complex issue, but somebody has to step up to the plate and act'.

In 1988, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that a surrogate mother was the legal mother of a child, known as Baby M, and the surrogacy arrangement was invalid — although the intending parents were awarded custody rights. This case involved donated sperm but the egg was that of the surrogate's. Since the decision, most surrogacy arrangements in New Jersey now use donated eggs or eggs from the intending mother, says the New York Times.

'When you look at the patchwork of laws across the country, that just amplifies the stress of infertility for the people who are going through it', said Hinson.

Some US states, including New York and California, have passed measures to deal with gestational surrogacy arrangements, but in the absence of laws in New Jersey many couples are making arrangements elsewhere that allow women to be paid for acting as gestational surrogates. 'Almost [all of] my clients go out of state and the reason for that is easy because you can't get a paid carrier in the state', said lawyer Melissa Brisman.

The Society for Assisted Reproductive Technologies has reported the number of children born to gestational surrogacy arrangements is on the rise in the USA, doubling between 2004 and 2008 to over 1,400.

Related Articles

Image by Dr Christina Weis. © Christina Weis
Image by Dr Christina Weis. © Christina Weis
News
27 November 2015 • 2 minutes read

US TV star must remain legal parent to child born via surrogacy

by Cait McDonagh

An appeals court in Pennsylvania, USA, has ruled that a woman is to remain the legal parent of a child born through surrogacy, despite separating from her husband before the child was born...

Image by Bill Sanderson via the Wellcome Collection, © Wellcome Trust Ltd 1990. Depicts Laocoön and his family (from Greek and Roman mythology) entwined in coils of DNA.
Image by Bill Sanderson via the Wellcome Collection, © Wellcome Trust Ltd 1990. Depicts Laocoön and his family entwined in coils of DNA (based on the figure of Laocoön from Greek and Roman mythology).
News
13 February 2015 • 2 minutes read

Is there a doctor in the house? New Jersey's artificial insemination law tested in custody battle

by Chee Hoe Low

A same-sex couple from New Jersey, USA, is challenging a sperm donor's visiting rights over their son conceived by artificial insemination...

Image by Dr Christina Weis. © Christina Weis
Image by Dr Christina Weis. © Christina Weis
News
11 March 2013 • 4 minutes read

US surrogacy dispute: surrogate refuses to abort at genetic parents' request

by Emma Stoye

A surrogate mother in the United States, who refused an abortion at the intended parents' request after a scan revealed abnormalities, has told CNN news that she was offered money to terminate the fetus and was threatened with legal action....

Image by Dr Christina Weis. © Christina Weis
Image by Dr Christina Weis. © Christina Weis
Comment
19 October 2012 • 4 minutes read

Should surrogate mothers still have an absolute right to change their minds?

by Natalie Gamble

Consent requirements for surrogacy were created in 1990 and sought to discourage surrogacy, to make it a perilous undertaking that few would brave. With more experience behind us, we now know that surrogacy is not something to be quite so afraid of...

Image by Dr Christina Weis. © Christina Weis
Image by Dr Christina Weis. © Christina Weis
News
24 September 2012 • 1 minute read

End of legal wrangle involving lesbian parents, private sperm donor and surrogate mother

by Tom Barrow

The High Court has awarded a lesbian couple sole custody rights for a child conceived using donor sperm and a surrogate's egg after a three-year battle over parenthood...

Image by Dr Christina Weis. © Christina Weis
Image by Dr Christina Weis. © Christina Weis
News
8 February 2010 • 2 minutes read

US court to decide legal mother of surrogate baby boy

by Dr Sophie Pryor

The Court of Appeals in Indiana, US, is to decide who is the legal mother of an 11-month old baby boy conceived by IVF and born to a surrogate. The boy's genetic parents, known in court records as T.G. and V.G, are a married couple from northern Indiana. The birth mother is the wife's sister, who agreed to carry the baby for the couple. The boy's father's name is listed on his birth certificate but his mother's name will not be added unti...

Image by Dr Christina Weis. © Christina Weis
Image by Dr Christina Weis. © Christina Weis
News
9 June 2009 • 2 minutes read

US Court rules that surrogate mother can keep child

by MacKenna Roberts

Last week a Florida court settled a custody battle in favour of surrogate mother, Stephanie Eckard, who will retain custody of her five-month-old daughter. Circuit Judge W. Gregg McCaulie ruled that any surrogacy agreement between the couple and Eckard had been previously terminated, and, beyond this, the...

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

« Chromosome screening may increase IVF success in older mothers

Data-Label The UK's Leading Supplier Of Medical Labels & Asset Labels

RetiringDentist.co.uk The UK's Leading M&A Company.

Find out how you can advertise here
easyfundraising
amazon

This month in BioNews

  • Popular
  • Recent
8 August 2022 • 2 minutes read

Placenta and organ formation observed in mouse embryo models

8 August 2022 • 2 minutes read

Lower hormone doses may improve IVF egg quality

8 August 2022 • 2 minutes read

Boosting muscle cell production of gene therapy proteins

1 August 2022 • 2 minutes read

First UK medical guidelines issued for trans fertility preservation

1 August 2022 • 2 minutes read

Male age has more impact on IVF birth rate than previously thought

15 August 2022 • 2 minutes read

Call to end ban on HIV-positive partner gamete 'donation'

15 August 2022 • 2 minutes read

Melanoma invades new tissues using nerve cell gene

15 August 2022 • 2 minutes read

Exceeding alcohol limits could damage DNA and accelerate ageing

15 August 2022 • 2 minutes read

Blood cell gene mutations affect mitochondria, increasing cardiovascular disease risk

15 August 2022 • 2 minutes read

Jumping gene helps immune system fight viruses

Subscribe to BioNews and other PET updates for free.

Subscribe
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • RSS
Wellcome
Website redevelopment supported by Wellcome.

Website by Impact Media Impact Media

  • Privacy Statement
  • Advertising Policy
  • Thanks and Acknowledgements

© 1992 - 2022 Progress Educational Trust. All rights reserved.

Limited company registered in England and Wales no 07405980 • Registered charity no 1139856

Subscribe to BioNews and other PET updates for free.

Subscribe
PET PET

PET is an independent charity that improves choices for people affected by infertility and genetic conditions.

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • RSS
Wellcome
Website redevelopment supported by Wellcome.

Navigation

  • About Us
  • Get Involved
  • Donate
  • BioNews
  • Events
  • Engagement
  • Jobs & Opportunities
  • Contact Us

BioNews

  • News
  • Comment
  • Reviews
  • Elsewhere
  • Topics
  • Glossary
  • Newsletters

Other

  • My Account
  • Subscribe

Website by Impact Media Impact Media

  • Privacy Statement
  • Advertising Policy
  • Thanks and Acknowledgements

© 1992 - 2022 Progress Educational Trust. All rights reserved.

Limited company registered in England and Wales no 07405980 • Registered charity no 1139856