Michigan Military Divorce

IVF, Designer babies & Single mothers by choice

Recently, the subject of designer babies came up on a Listserv in which I participate. The topic under discussion was Lesbian couples who have children born using in vitro fertilization (IVF) or sperm donors and the tragedies playing out around the country when these mothers split and the biological mother keeps the non-bio Mom from having contact with the child they've planned and raised together. I opined that there's got to be a way that we can combine genetic material, creating a "designer baby," so that, upon "divorce" both mothers will have an equal claim to custody and parenting time.

How many parents may a baby have?

The New York Times published an Op-Ed piece near the end of January that's been sitting in my to-do pile. The issue raised is whether a baby can have three (or more) biological parents. Non-traditional families are more prevalent today than ever before. Parenthood may occur in a Lesbian relationship with one partner being the "host" parent (the biological parent who conceives using sperm of a third party). Gay men have also used surrogacy or adoption to form family units with children. The other partner then is the supportive second parent. If a "second parent adoption" is legal, the second parent's parental rights can be protected. Otherwise, there have been serious risks when the parents' relationship sours.

In a recent New Jersey

Thanks to Andrea B. Carroll, C.E. Laborde, Jr. Professor of Law, Paul M. Hebert Law Center, LSU writing on the Family Law Prof Blog for the following analysis and commentary concerning surrogacy issues and problems faced by gay and lesbian families seeking to have IVF or surrogacy agreements in order to raise children in their families. Professor Carroll writes:

"Joanna Grossman (Hofstra University School of Law) has recently posted an excellent two-part commentary on whether the Baby M decision should survive, particularly in the context of a recent New Jersey case.  The case involves two gay men who were legally married.  One of the men provided sperm and a donor egg was used, with the resulting embryo implanted into the (non-egg donor) surrogate.  After twin girls were born, the surrogate sought a judgment that the surrogacy agreement she signed relinquishing her rights was a nullity and that she was entitled to parental rights.  The trial court agreed, resting on Baby M.  Grossman argues that Baby M should be revisited in light of distinctions between its facts and those in the most recent case and reproductive advancements since the Baby M decision.

IVF and divorce

Thanks to Andrea B. Carroll, C.E. Laborde, Jr. Professor of Law, Paul M. Hebert Law Center, LSU, writing on the Family Law Profs Blog for a heads up on Professor Mark Strasser's recent article about frozen embryos. Strasser's article "You Take the Embryos But I Get the House (and the Business): Recent Trends in Awards Involving Embryos Upon Divorce," 57 Buffalo L. Rev. 1159 (2009). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1478032

An excerpt:

More and more couples are delaying starting a family.  Because fertility declines with age, delaying childbirth increases the likelihood that couples will have to make use of assisted reproductive technologies such as in vitro fertilization (“IVF') to fulfill their hopes of having children biologically related to at least one of them. As might be expected in a country with a relatively high divorce rate, the increased use of IVF has led and will continue to lead to more and more couples having to decide what to do with remaining frozen embryos upon dissolution of their marriages.