Massachusetts Parentage
The Massachusetts Parentage Act (MPA) will update Massachusetts’ outdated parentage law so that it is clear, equitable, and provides legal protection for all families, including LGBTQ+ families.
Learn more about the Massachusetts Parentage Act:
- Support for the MPA
- Get involved and take action
- Why we need the MPA
- Recognizing all families
- Family stories
- Get updates and share your family’s story
- Media
Support for the MPA
- Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey: Office of the MA Attorney General
- Boston City Council: City Council Supports Massachusetts Parentage Act
- Boston Globe Editorial Board: Massachusetts lawmakers must protect the rights of LGBTQ and other parents
- Massachusetts Lawyer’s Weekly: Legislature must act on surrogacy issues
- The Massachusetts Parentage Act is supported by local families and these partner organizations:
Get involved and take action
- Get updates, volunteer, or share your story: Join us and other MPA supporters!
- Follow the Massachusetts Parentage Act Coalition on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram for updates and to share posts and help spread the word.
- Show your support for the MPA – download the MPA Coalition badge and make it your social media profile picture.
- Learn more about the need for parentage reform from Massachusetts families and check out the latest press coverage.
- Download and share the MPA Fact Sheet and family stories.
Why we need to update Massachusetts parentage law
There are many paths to parenthood and many types of families in the Commonwealth, but Massachusetts statutes have not kept pace with modern science and the diversity of our families, leaving children vulnerable.
The Massachusetts Parentage Act (MPA) updates Massachusetts statutes to clarify who can be a parent and how to establish parentage. This bill is critical to ensuring that all children can access the security of legal parentage, regardless of the circumstances of their birth.
This bill is based on the Uniform Parentage Act, which serves as a uniform framework for ensuring the protection of the relationship between parents and children. Originally passed in 1973 to protect children born to unmarried people, the Uniform Parentage Act was most recently revised and approved in 2017. Several of our neighboring states, including Vermont and Maine, have passed similar parentage legislation.
Recognizing all families
The MPA updates Massachusetts law so that it is constitutional, and it protects all children, regardless of the circumstances of their birth. Among other important protections, the MPA provides clarity on how to establish parentage for children born through assisted reproduction, surrogacy, and to same-sex parents who aren’t married. As the law stands now, children are not treated equally, with some having to wait six months or longer to establish their parent-child relationship. That is too long to wait and leaves children and families vulnerable.
Massachusetts families can’t wait any longer for equal access to family protections. Love makes families, and we need our laws to protect them.
Family stories
J. Shia’s parentage story (downloadable version)
Testimony from Jess (downloadable version)
Simone’s family (downloadable version)
Shannon’s family (downloadable version)
Sylvia, Jane, and baby R (downloadable version)
Karen’s story (downloadable version)
Click here for the family stories landing page
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If you have experience with the state’s outdated and discriminatory parentage laws, share your story and help build support for the bill:
Media: Press coverage, blogs, and videos
- Bay Windows: LGBTQ Families, Advocates Call on Legislature to Pass MA Parentage Act
- WGBH: Pride month begins in Boston with calls for the Legislature to clarify legal parentage
- Telemundo: Inicia celebración del orgullo LGBTQ+ en Boston
- MassLive: ‘We have no law protecting my parentage from being challenged’; Beacon Hill urged to update legal protections for LGBTQ families
- WWLP: Rally for Massachusetts Parentage Act at Boston Statehouse
- Mombian: A Motorcycle Mom — and Her Fight for Equal Parentage
- MetroWest Daily News: Still no statutes protecting children born through surrogacy
- CommonWealth Magazine: Lawmakers need to update outdated parentage laws
- Find more media about the MPA