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The Massachusetts Parentage Act (MPA) will update Massachusetts’ outdated parentage law so that it is clear, equitable, and provides legal protection for all families, including LGBTQ families.
Navigation:
- Get involved and take action
- Why we need the MPA
- Recognizing all families
- Family stories
- Share your story
- Media
- Coalition partners
Get involved and take action
- Get updates, volunteer, or share your story: Join us and other MPA supporters!
- Urge YOUR legislators to support the MPA
- Find your legislators here.
- Check if your legislators are on the Judiciary Committee, and if so, let Kate know.
- Check S. 1133/H. 1714 to see if your legislators are already co-sponsors. If so, email or call to thank them. If not, email or call to ask them to co-sponsor. Either way, please share why the MPA matters to you!
- And submit testimony for the upcoming MPA hearing: Here’s a template to get started.
- Learn more about the need for parentage reform from Massachusetts families and what the press has been saying.
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 (S. 1133/H. 1714) 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 in our laws
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
If you have experience with the state’s outdated and discriminatory parentage laws, share your story and help build support for the Massachusetts Parentage Act:
Media: Press coverage, blogs, and videos
- Massachusetts Lawyer’s Weekly: Legislature must act on surrogacy issues
- Mombian: Parentage Law in Massachusetts Is Outdated, but Bill Could Change That
- Video: Massachusetts Parentage Act: J’s Story
- Spirit Magazine: Protecting and celebrating our LGBTQ families no matter how we form them
- Bay Windows: Parentage Law in Massachusetts Is Outdated
- Video: The Massachusetts Parentage Act Can’t Wait
- NBC News: Changes to state parenting laws help fill gaps for same-sex couples
- Video: Protecting Children With the Massachusetts Parentage Act
- Mombian: Marriage Is Not Enough: Securing Parentage in New England and Beyond
- Video: Protecting Our Families
- Mombian: Making it Easier to Secure Nonbiological Parents’ Rights: Take Action in 3 States
The Massachusetts Parentage Act is supported by local families and these partner organizations:
