The new year brings good news from Beacon Hill for LGBTQ parents with the enactment of the Massachusetts Parentage Act, unanimously passed by both the state’s house and senate and signed into law last summer by Gov. Maura Healey. The new law went into effect yesterday, Jan. 1, 2025.
Reports the Boston Globe:
A new law expanding who legally qualifies as a parent took effect Wednesday, providing what advocates and lawmakers have called a significant policy victory for LGBTQ+ parents who can face hurdles in establishing parentage.
The language asserts that every child has the “same rights and protections under law to parentage,” regardless of their parents’ marital status, gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation. The law also affords protections regardless of the circumstances of birth, including if a child was conceived through assisted reproduction, such as in-vitro fertilization or surrogacy.
Before the change, nonbiological parents, at times, would need to formally adopt their children to secure the same parental rights as a birth parent.
“Our laws need to reflect the realities of modern families and the loving environments where children grow and flourish,” said Governor Healey in a press release last summer. “This moment is a victory for all families in Massachusetts who deserve to be treated with dignity and to have their rights recognized and protected under the law. We are grateful to our partners in the Legislature for their leadership in advancing this important legislation, and thankful to all of the advocates who fought for years to make this a reality in Massachusetts.”
“This is commonsense, long overdue action that gives every family in Massachusetts, including many LGBTQ+ families, the legal protections they need and deserve,” added Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll in the same press release. “By updating these laws, we are putting outdated norms aside and paving the way for a brighter and more equitable future for families of all kinds.”
Read the complete Boston Globe article here. Read the complete Commonwealth of Massachusetts press release here.
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