Michigan Senate passes bills to end state ban on compensated surrogacy
The Michigan Senate on Tuesday passed a series of bills to remove the state's ban on compensated surrogacy agreements, something backers of the legislation say will open up more options to start families for those who want to have children but are unable to start pregnancies themselves.
The package, House Bills 5207-5215, is called the Michigan Family Protection Act by supporters and would repeal a ban on compensated surrogacy which has been in place in Michigan since 1988. Most of the bills in the package passed 22-15, with Sens. Jon Bumstead, R-North Muskegon, and Mark Huizenga, R-Walker, voting with Democrats to support the legislation. Sen. Thomas Albert, R-Lowell, supported HB 5211, which passed 23-14.
Surrogate parenting, a means of assisted reproduction, refers to the process in which a woman will carry a pregnancy and deliver a child for another family.
Advocates for the legislation say Michigan is the only state with a ban on compensated surrogacy agreements. Surrogacy has still taken place in Michigan since then, but parents and advocates for surrogacy parenting say there are legal barriers that make it difficult for many in the state to have children if they are unable to through traditional means.
"Having a baby and starting a family is the dream for so many individuals," said Sen. Stephanie Chang, D-Detroit.
"Michigan residents desire the freedom to utilize assisted reproductive methods," Chang added. "We heard loud and clear from Michigan moms and parents who want this process to work in Michigan. But despite the availability of technology, our current laws lag behind the rest of the nation, remaining outdated and antiquated."
During committee testimony, lawmakers heard from Tammy Myers, of Grand Rapids, who said she and her husband had to go through an arduous adoption process for their twins, born through surrogacy, which lasted nearly two years. When the twins were born prematurely, Myers and her husband were unable to make medical decisions, she said.
"Despite being their biological parents and having no opposition to the parentage from our carrier and her husband, my husband and I were denied the rightful recognition on the twins' birth certificates," Myers said March 7. "In the early hours of their lives, we had no lifesaving medical decision-making power for their care."
There was opposition to the bills, as Republicans attempted to introduce amendments to keep the current penalties for entering a surrogacy agreement with a minor or a developmentally disabled individual in place. The bills passed Tuesday require those entering a surrogate agreement to be at least 21 years old, to complete consultations with medical and mental health professionals and to have independent legal representation, which supporters say will protect carriers.
"I think it’s a very important protection and I don’t think it should be deleted from the current law," said Sen. Ruth Johnson, R-Holly, who backed the amendments, although they were ultimately unsuccessful.
Advocates applauded the legislation's passage. Stephanie Jones, founder of the Michigan Fertility Alliance, said in a statement the passage was "a victory for parents and their children."
“If signed into law, it will secure the ability of parents to provide health insurance for their children, make crucial decisions about things like emergency medical care and education, and ensure children have access to social security benefits and inheritance rights, which are all derived from legal parentage. It will also ensure children don’t abruptly lose a relationship with a parent in circumstances where a couple separates, or one parent dies," Jones said.
The bills are now poised to advance to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's desk for consideration. She is expected to sign the package into law.
Contact Arpan Lobo: alobo@freepress.com. Follow him on X (Twitter) @arpanlobo.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan poised to lift ban on compensated surrogacy agreements
