Establishing Parentage for LGBTQ Parents

LGBTQ parents plan for, build, love and care for their children just as different-sex, single parent and other family configurations. Yet LGBTQ parents are still subject to having their parentage questioned, in ways that harm children. For LGBTQ parents, just as for all parents, there are many pathways to legal parentage. Legal parentage is the core, legal bond between a parent and child from which all other rights and responsibilities originate such as child support, decision making, and parenting time. For over two decades, appellate courts in Massachusetts have called for legislative action so that there is clear guidance for parentage establishment in areas of assisted reproduction and surrogacy. Massachusetts is currently the only New England state without updated parentage protections for children. In the absence of that legislative guidance, Massachusetts courts have stepped in to provide protection for children.

Join the expert panel as we review the key parentage cases and standards protecting children born to LGBTQ parents. The panel provides an overview of pending legislation, the Massachusetts Parentage Act, to address these holes in protections for children as well as the regional and national context on LGBTQ parentage.