While Pennsylvania has strong court decisions supporting families formed through assisted reproduction, the lack of a comprehensive statutory framework still creates legal uncertainty for many families. Despite recent guidance from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, legal recognition of parent-child relationships can still vary significantly depending on which county a family lives in, or even which judge is assigned to their case. This inconsistency doesn’t just create administrative roadblocks; it puts children at risk by leaving their legal parentage uncertain.
House Bill 350, known as the Uniform Parentage Act, would offer a clear solution to these problems by establishing consistent standards for determining legal parentage across the Commonwealth.
The Current Legal Landscape
Pennsylvania currently lacks a comprehensive statutory framework that protects the parentage rights of all children, particularly those born through assisted reproduction. While courts have developed some precedents over the years, the absence of legislative action has created a system where similar cases can have dramatically different outcomes depending on where they’re heard.
I’ve seen this uncertainty play out in difficult and emotional ways. In one case, I represented intended parents who used egg donation and surrogacy to build their family. Despite existing Department of Health guidance and precedent, the court issued an order that recognized only the genetic parent at birth, leaving the other intended parent unlisted and requiring them to pursue an adoption to secure their legal rights. This experience was heartbreaking for the parents and troubling from a legal perspective. It highlighted just how much discretion individual judges still have—and how children can be left legally vulnerable.
What HB 350 Would Change
House Bill 350 addresses these problems by establishing a straightforward, accessible and consistent framework for determining legal parentage. The bill ensures protection for all children regardless of the circumstances of their birth or their parents’ marital status, gender, or sexual orientation.
The legislation codifies several key Pennsylvania court precedents, including Ferguson v. McKeirnan, which addressed the legal status of known sperm donors, and In Re: Baby S., which dealt with legal parentage in the context of surrogacy. Importantly, HB 350 also aligns with the landmark Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision in Glover v. Junior, which just this year established the doctrine of intent-based parentage in our Commonwealth.
The bill expands access to voluntary acknowledgments of parentage, providing an administrative route to legal parentage. It clarifies the various paths to establish parentage—through birth, acknowledgment, adjudication, presumption, de facto parentage, consent to assisted reproduction, or through surrogacy agreements—and provides clear guidance for each pathway.
Real Protection for Modern Families
The bill provides essential statutory guidance for courts and families formed with assisted reproduction, ensuring that intended parents would be recognized as legal parents from birth, with both names appearing on their child’s birth certificate.
This isn’t about changing custody or child support laws. Instead, HB 350 would bring efficiency and consistency to our courts while reducing unnecessary litigation.
A Long-Overdue Update
For decades, Pennsylvania courts have asked the General Assembly to provide statutory guidance to ensure protection for children and consistency across the state. HB 350 finally answers that call. The bill is modeled on the Uniform Parentage Act, which represents best-practice legislation developed by the Uniform Law Commission and has been adopted by numerous other states.
The legislation has already passed the Pennsylvania House with bipartisan support and is currently under consideration in the Senate Judiciary Committee. This represents a crucial opportunity to modernize our laws and align Pennsylvania with national best practices.
The Time Is Now
Every day that passes without comprehensive parentage legislation is another day that Pennsylvania families face uncertainty about their most fundamental relationships. Children deserve the security of knowing their legal parentage is protected, and parents deserve the peace of mind that comes with clear, consistent laws.
HB 350 provides critical protections for children and families across Pennsylvania. It modernizes our laws to reflect the realities of how families are formed today, while also prioritizing the best interests of children, regardless of how they are conceived.
As someone who has devoted my career to helping families secure their parental relationships with their children, I believe this legislation is long overdue. Pennsylvania families can’t afford to wait any longer for the legal clarity and protection they deserve. If you are interested in learning more about or getting involved in the efforts to pass the Uniform Parentage Act in Pennsylvania, information can be found on the PA Parentage Coalition website here: https://www.pennparentage.com/.
