Proud Parenting

LGBTQ Parents - Lesbian Moms & Gay Dads

Update on India/Israeli Surrogacy Debacle & Australian Reform

By

Israel/India-Dan Goldberg is still stuck in India waiting to bring his twins boys back home to Israel. Goldberg’s story is quickly gaining the support of many back home in Israel, including members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, who held a spot protest to urge the members of the Ministry of Interiors to speed up the process of granting citizenship for the twins, and Yonatan Gher, who, like Goldberg, had a baby through surrogacy in 2008.

Also, the Association of Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals and Transgenders president, Mike Hamel said the group has obtained a license to conduct a rally in front of the district court in Tel Aviv on May 17.

http://www.mid-day.com/news/2010/may/110510-dan-goldberg-israeli-twins-case-gay-father-lgbt-support.htm

Australia- Tuesday’s blog stated that the Law Society of New South Wales was advocating for uniform surrogacy laws throughout Australia. It looks like New South Wales is leading the charge with new laws on surrogacy.

The proposed laws are expected to clarify the difference between commercial surrogacy (which will remain illegal) and reasonable payments that can be made to an altruistic surrogate mother for her expenses in having a child. The new laws will also allow state courts to grant a parentage order that recognize couples as the parents of children born by surrogates, provided the court believes it is in the child’s best interests, the child is living with the parents and surrogacy was agreed before conception. Therefore, after years of legal confusion, couples who use a surrogate mother in NSW will be able to get legal recognition of their status as parents in state courts.

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/complex-surrogacy-laws-to-be-untangled-20100507-ujp4.html

Friday Legal Updates™- Australia Surrogacy, Indiana Surrogacy & Twitter/Facebook IVF Fund

By

Surrogacy News has been big this week in Australia, specifically in Queensland – and our updates will focus on where this will take the people of Australia in their quest to have a child via surrogacy. But, first we will start with Indiana, where a couple is fighting for the right to have their names on the birth certificate of their child.

Indiana – The biological parents of a child born via surrogacy are challenging a ruling by the Indiana courts. The Court of Appeals is to hear arguments this week. A trial court denied their request as follows:

“A trial court judge denied the biological parents’ petition to establish paternity and maternity for the child, ruling that “Indiana law does not permit a non birth mother to establish maternity. Indiana law holds the birth mother is the legal maternal mother.” The surrogate mother filed an affidavit in support of the biological parents’ petition. The biological parents appealed, arguing that the paternity statute denies women equal protection and should be declared unconstitutional.”

http://www.therepublic.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=111&ArticleID=142014

Facebook & Twitter IVF Fund – Interesting story. What are your thoughts?

“The invitation went out by e-mail, Facebook and Twitter almost simultaneously to friends of San Francisco’s Molly and Brian Walsh. Its title was tantalizing: “Makin’ Whoopie.” But its purpose was pure, as well as purely provocative.
“You can’t help us in the bedroom, but you can help us make a baby,” read the invitation to the party, which may have been a Bay Area first – a fundraiser to collect money for costly fertility procedures. With insurance companies reluctant to pay for the cost of in-vitro fertilization and few states with laws requiring insurers to do so, couples unable to pay for the procedure, which runs $12,000 on average, have few resources other than their own creativity.

Two low-profile national nonprofits, the International Council on Infertility Information Dissemination in Arlington, Va., and BUMPS (Bringing U Maternal and Parental Success) in South Florida, offer in-vitro fertilization services to couples without the money or insurance to pay, and who meet select criteria. Together, they assist fewer than 100 couples annually.

Despite their online know-how, the Walshes had not searched the Web for outsiders’ help.

“It never occurred to me to reach out to them – I’d reach out to my own community first,” said Molly Walsh, 38, head of business development at USA Hosts/Key Events. Her husband, Brian, 37, is the founder and chief executive of Castfire, a video publishing company. The couple, who met at a friend’s house in 2006, are participants in Nevada’s Burning Man festival and immersed in social networking, for business and pleasure.

Their decision to go public with a private matter was not easy. They feared backlash because the nature of their crisis was not life-threatening. Moreover, they had already saved $10,000, but were overwhelmed by the cost of the treatment – $25,000 to $30,000 in their case because they also need genetic testing of the fertilized embryos. Brian Walsh has Marfan’s syndrome, a connective tissue disease, which they do not want to pass on to their offspring. There is also the race against the fertility clock.”

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/02/05/MNI01BQV9I.DTL&type=printable

Australia – Non-commercial surrogacy is no longer a crime in Queensland after a weeklong debate where sparks were flying over same sex and single parent surrogacy. Although they do not expect to see surrogacy occuring in great numbers, many are upset with the results. Unfortunately, many also think that any payments to surrogates under the table will be difficult to stop. One must note, however, that the surrogate is still entitled to not relinquish the baby. An important note for those thinking of this as an option there.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/02/12/2817460.htm?section=australia

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/surrogacy-payments-difficult-to-stop-20100212-nwkw.html

Friday Legal Updates™ – Catholicism and Reproductive Technologies & Southern Australia Surrogacy Update

By

IVF, Reproductive Technologies, Catholicism, and Surrogacy in Australia are our updates for today. In fact, just this week, the Catholic Church issued a statement that can be found here regarding couples who are infertile and how the Church views how they proceed in creating a family. I found it to be interesting, but certainly painful for those Catholics who cannot conceive naturally.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/nov/18/bishops-letter-defines-marriage/

What is absolutely great; however, is that the American Fertility Association is having an upcoming webinar on Catholics and IVF: A Pastoral Approach as follows:

“Are you a Roman Catholic or married to one and considering IVF or other forms of ART for your family? Does the Roman Catholic Church’s position raise concerns regarding your decision?

This webinar will help prepare Catholics who are considering IVF / ART or have a child born as a result of IVF / ART to have a productive and respectful conversation with their pastors from the perspective of their lived experiences. The guest speaker will be Father Jon Pedigo, STL.

For more information, please email Corey at: Corey@TheAFA.org”

http://www.theafa.org/

Please consider attending if this is something that you are currently dealing with in your life. I am certain it will be informative.

Australia – Surrogacy is now legal for childless South Australian Couples. Unfortunately, it only applies to heterosexual couples and for non-compensation surrogacy. Definitely a step in the right direction – but there needs to be more inclusiveness.

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,26372518-2682,00.html?from=public_rss

TGIF and have a great weekend.

Friday Legal Updates™ – Nevada Pro-Life Effect, Doctor Uses Wrong Sperm, German Twins in India, Australia Surrogacy Law, & Embry

By

Surrogacy, Surrogacy and more Surrogacy on this Happy Friday Morning! Too bad it is gloomy outside here in Southern California, but it could always be worse. Welcome to today’s updates. Have an awesome weekend!

New York – Greenwich doctor uses wrong sperm to produce twins for one of his patients – oh, and it is his sperm!

“Hundreds of women have trusted him with their bodies, and their dreams of motherhood. Many depend on him as their doctor today.

But for nearly seven years, none of Dr. Ben D. Ramaley’s patients have known that the prominent obstetrician/gynecologist had been accused of an almost unimaginable act – substituting his own sperm for that of a patient’s husband during an artificial insemination procedure.

The allegation was made against the veteran Greenwich doctor in a 2005 medical malpractice lawsuit – which was quickly settled, then sealed, the very court documents shredded. The suit was filed by a couple when a DNA test revealed that the husband was not the biological father of their twin girls, born after an insemination procedure performed by Ramaley.” Ouch is all I can say!

http://www.greenwichtime.com/ci_13766571

Nevada – Nevada group sues to stop anti-abortion petition. “The Nevada Personhood initiative violates state law by misleading voters about the true outcomes of the constitutional amendment, according to the lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and Planned Parenthood.

“It utterly fails not only to mention it will ban all abortions– even in the case of rape and incest– that it will prevent much fertility treatment and birth control, but that it conflicts with a prior vote of the Nevada electorate and it conflicts with the U.S. Supreme Court,” said Lee Rowland of the ACLU of Nevada. “Voters need to understand what a monumental change they would be making should they vote for this initiative.”

The petition filed by conservative Las Vegas activist Richard Ziser seeks to add a single sentence to the state constitution: “In the great state of Nevada, the term ‘person’ applies to every human being.”

Supporters contend the amendment would grant due process rights to “everyone possessing a human genome,” according to a five-paragraph description on the petition.

It’s that description of effect that abortion-rights advocates claim is misleading and against state law governing initiative petitions. The description does not use the word “abortion,” although it refers to the “unborn.”

Ziser said the lawsuit has been filed because opponents disagree with what it would accomplish, not because its outcome is unclear.”

http://www.rgj.com/article/20091112/NEWS/911120369/1018/SPORTS/Nevada-groups-sue-to-stop-anti-abortion-petition

Australia – The Queensland Opposition has moved to exclude same-sex couples from new surrogacy laws. “The State Government is legislating to decriminalise altruistic or non-commercial surrogacy and the laws have been framed to include same-sex couples.

Opposition Leader Lawrence Springborg has introduced a Private Member’s Bill to rival the Government’s legislation.

“The Bill makes it clear that the only form of surrogacy which will be legal will be non-commercial and for heterosexual couples only,” he said.

“Same-sex and single and commercial surrogacy arrangements will remain illegal.”

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/11/11/2739916.htm

UK – Couple in embryo court battle to stop the destruction of stored embryos. “They took the action after narrowly falling outside new rules which relax the upper age limit at which a woman can have an embryo implanted.

From 1 October an age limit of 55 was removed, but the woman involved had reached that age days earlier.

That means continued retention of their embryos is currently illegal

However, the couple have been granted an injunction guaranteeing nothing is done with them until the legal challenge is decided.

They are also seeking permission to be allowed to transport the embryos to the Republic of Ireland should they fail to ensure their retention within the United Kingdom.”

http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/mpapps/pagetools/print/news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/8354114.stm?ad=1

India/Germany – Things that make you go hmmmm……India continues to sound VERY RISKY for me. German twins in surrogacy row are Indians, says High Court. “In a historic judgment, the Gujarat High Court held that children born to surrogate mothers on Indian soil are Indians, if there is any dispute regarding their citizenship in cases of foreign nationals.

Jan Balaz, a freelance writer and his wife Susanne Lohle, both Germans, could not have kids, so they came to India and entered into a surrogacy agreement with Martha Khristi, who delivered twins last April âs” Nikolas and Leonard. Their birth was registered in Anand municipality. The babies could never be German citizens, as the laws there prohibit surrogacy. The couple settled down in UK and wanted a visa for the kids from British embassy. They had already got Indian passports.

However, the passports were withdrawn by the Centre on the ground that the parents were not Indian nationals and therefore the kids were not Indians. Balaz approached the High Court, and there was a debate on the twins’ citizenship. Ultimately, the High Court took a middle path in the absence of any law, and ordered the Centre to issue identity certificates, just like the Japanese baby Manjiâ’s case, and on basis of this the couple was allowed to take their babies to UK.

A division Bench of Chief Justice KS Radhakrishnan and Justice AS Dave asked the Centre to give passport to babies for obtaining British visa. The Centre was willing, but surrogacy laws and citizenship were not clear.

Finally, the court considered the Citizenship Act and held: “Even if the children are described as illegitimate children, they are born in this country to an Indian national and hence, they are entitled to get citizenship by birth, as one of their parent is an Indian.”

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-5221494,prtpage-1.cms

Friday Legal Updates™ – Gay Marriage Updates, Too Many Eggs, Colorado Initiative, Australia Update on Surrogacy

By

Washington State – The state has passed a gay partnership law that essentially provides gays and lesbian “everything but marriage.” The measure asked voters to approve or reject the latest expansion of the state’s domestic partnership law, granting registered domestic partners additional state rights previously given only to married couples.

Full-fledged gay marriage is still not allowed under Washington law.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120153976

Illinois – Two for Illinois this week:

a. Couple Claims Institute Mixed Up Embryos – Oh, no, not another one! “A couple who sought fertility services to prevent passing on a genetic disorder says doctors at the Reproductive Genetic Institute carelessly commingled their eggs and sperm with that of other patients to create embryos.

The husband and wife, Abdullah Abdulmohsen and Enas Ibrahim, say they sought the institute’s expertise to ensure that their children would not be born with a genetic disorder, Fragile-X syndrome, which Ibrahim inherited from her parents. Fragile-X causes “mental impairment” and is the “most common known cause of autism,” according to the Fragile-X Foundation. The institute promised to provide the couple with “pre-implantation” genetic testing and in vitro fertilization, according to the complaint in Cook County Court.

The couple says that Ibrahim endured hormone treatments to produce numerous eggs which the doctors promised to fertilize with her husband’s sperm. But they say doctors carelessly fertilized her eggs with another man’s sperm and used her husband’s sperm on another woman’s eggs. They say the institute informed their relative that the embryos formed from Ibrahim’s eggs do not match her husband’s DNA. They say the doctors at the institute did not properly keep track of the eggs and sperm or the embryos produced in the mix-up.

http://www.courthousenews.com/2009/10/30/Couple_Claims_Institute_Mixed_Up_Embryos.htm

b. Human Eggs for Sale – Too Many of Them – “An infertile couple claims an unregistered surrogacy center was in cahoots with a woman who used an alias to donate her eggs more than a dozen times, in violation of industry guidelines. The couple says that when they demanded their money back from Angels in Waiting Surrogacy Center, its owner, Dianna Watschke, closed the company down and reopened under another name. John and Kelli Conroy claim Watschke and Angels in Waiting, of Grayslake, Ill., failed to locate a suitable egg donor or reimburse them for a hefty retainer they paid after getting false information about the egg donor, “Kristin.”

They say Watschke induced them to pay money up front based on false information about “Kristin.” Based on information on the defendants’ Web site, the Conroys say, they contacted Watschke “to inquire about whether ‘Kristin’ was available and eligible to be a donor for the plaintiffs.” They say Watschke falsely assured them she “would obtain ‘Kristin’s’ medical, psychological, pregnancy history and egg donation history to confirm that there was nothing to indicate ‘Kristin’ was unable to undertake the risks of the egg donation cycle.” See Courthouse News for more informationon link above.

http://www.courthousenews.com/2009/11/03/Human_Eggs_for_Sale_-_Too_Many_of_Them.htm

Colorado – Proposed Colorado Initiative to Define Eggs as People – “A new ballot measure campaign in Colorado seeks to legally define eggs, not just embryos, as people. The measure (see PDF) seeks to amend the state constitution so that “the term ‘person’ shall apply to every human being from the beginning of the biological development of that human being,” According to the Colorado Independent, this would “move the legal definition of a person further back into the reproductive cycle, granting cells the full spectrum of citizen rights.”

The proposed measure goes further than Amendment 48, which was defeated in the 2008 elections by 73 to 27 percent and was a personhood initiative that declared a fertilized egg to be a person who enjoys all constitutional rights “relating to inalienable rights, equality of justice, and due process of law”.

If the initiative passes, it would not only put a woman’s right to an abortion in danger but also threaten oral and emergency contraception, IUDs, in vitro fertilization clinics, and stem cell research. Biology professor Dr. Johnathan Van Blerkom, of the University of Colorado in Boulder, told the Colorado Independent that “to begin with [embryonic] stem cell research would stop.There would be no research in genetics in the causes of the origins congenital diseases that occur in humans, how to fix them, how to protect them early.” Van Blerkom also expressed concern about liability. He said, “it’s criminal liability. So would any program want to freeze an embryo in the state of Colorado? If the embryos die, as they frequently do when they are thawed, is that your responsibility? Is it an act of God? An act of science?”

http://www.msmagazine.com/news/uswirestory.asp?ID=12036

Maine – Maine voters repealed a state law Tuesday that would have allowed same-sex couples to wed, dealing the gay rights movement a heartbreaking defeat in New England, the corner of the country most supportive of gay marriage.

Gay marriage has now lost in every single state — 31 in all — in which it has been put to a popular vote. Gay-rights activists had hoped to buck that trend in Maine — known for its moderate, independent-minded electorate — and mounted an energetic, well-financed campaign.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33609492/ns/politics-more_politics/

I look forward to your comments! Have a great weekend!