Advocates Celebrate the Massachusetts Parentage Act Signing

Advocates, Families, and Legislative Leaders Join Governor Healey in Celebrating Passage of Massachusetts Parentage Act

Dozens of advocates, families, and legislators joined Governor Maura Healey at the State House Monday for a ceremonial bill signing of an Act to Ensure Legal Parentage Equality, better known as the Massachusetts Parentage Act. Now signed into law, Massachusetts becomes the final state in New England, and the 13th in the nation, to adopt parentage protections.

"It was 20 years ago when we said love is love, secured marriage equality, and changed the world," said Governor Healey. "Today, we took action to say that what defines a family is love and commitment, not outdated notions of who should be a parent or how a child should come into the world. This is a victory for all families in Massachusetts who deserve to be treated equally under the law. We are grateful to advocates and our partners in the Legislature for their leadership in passing this long-overdue legislation."

The child-centered law, based on the bipartisan model Uniform Parentage Act of 2017, updates Massachusetts' forty-year-old parentage statutes to be inclusive of LGBTQ+ families, families formed through assisted reproduction, and families that include a de facto or functional parent. It ensures all children have equal access to the security of a legal parent-child relationship no matter the gender or marital status of their parents or how their family is formed.

"Every day, the incredible team at GLAD proves that with determination, skill, and empathy the voices of our community will be heard," said Shane Dunn, GLAD Board President. "We are grateful to all the families and advocates who had the courage to share their stories in an effort to underscore the urgent need for this legislation to become law and to the commitment from lawmakers to get this over the finish line. As the proud son of a lesbian mom and a parent to young children myself, watching Governor Healey sign the legislation today was not just a testament of our Commonwealth's values, but another reminder of how Massachusetts is for everyone."

"It has been GLAD's tremendous honor to co-lead the MPA coalition these last 7 years," said Polly Crozier, Director of Family Advocacy at GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders. "Together, we have heard and held the painful stories of so many community members and witnessed their grit and spirit as they never ever gave up on a vision of Massachusetts where all children have access to parentage and are seen, included, loved, and secured. Thank you Governor Healey and Lt. Governor Driscoll for welcoming us to the people's house to celebrate."

Among those in attendance at the State House event were people directly impacted by the law, including Darmany Jimenez of Boston.

"I'm so grateful to Governor Healey, and to everyone in the legislature who made it a priority to pass the MPA and sign it into law," said Jimenez. "Our mom is our parent. She has sacrificed a lot to raise me and my siblings. Her love and commitment are undisputed. Our family may not look like other families, and we came together in a non-traditional way, but we are just as real. We know that. And now, because of the MPA, the law will recognize that too."

Joining Jimenez was Karen Partanen of Wilmington, whose legal case to be recognized as her childrens' parent was decided by the Supreme Judicial Court in 2016 and highlighted the need to reform Massachusetts law.

"Ten years ago I began a legal fight that took every dollar of my savings and beyond, and nearly every minute of my time for years to ensure my children would not lose one of their loving parents," Partanen said. "While I would gladly do that all over again to protect my kids, I am so happy that now, because of the Massachusetts Parentage Act, other LGBTQ parents will not have to go through what I did simply to secure their family."

The bill's bipartisan sponsors include Democrat Senator Julian Cyr, Republican Senator Bruce Tarr, Democrat Representative Sarah Peake, and Republican Representative Hannah Kane.

"With unprecedented and alarming action in other states to strip away the rights of LGBTQ+ people and our families, Massachusetts' outdated and heterocentric parentage laws put LGBTQ+ families at risk every day," said Cape and Islands Senator Julian Cyr (D-Truro). "The Massachusetts Parentage Act is personal - LGBTQ+ families like mine face excessive and expensive hoops just to ensure our children have the security of legal parentage. I am grateful to Governor Healey for signing this bill into law- today marks a critical step to guarantee that all children can benefit from the stability of a legal parent-child relationship no matter how they came to be in this world."

"No child in Massachusetts should be left in legal limbo while state agencies and the courts struggle with unclear laws to clearly establish parentage in a timely and efficient way," said Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr (R-Gloucester). "This law contains the reforms needed to prevent that from happening."

"Like so many people here in the Commonwealth, this legislation is personal for me," said Representative Hannah Kane (R-Shrewsbury), a lead sponsor of the bill. "My husband Jim and I have been blessed with 3 beautiful children who are now young adults. Our parentage was easily established - the laws as they exist made it clear and easy to do so. Our beautiful, smart, sweet, tough Endicott College graduate and national collegiate rugby champion daughter Caitlin is lesbian, and if she chooses, I want her to experience the joy of being a parent someday with the same rights to establish her parentage, and to have the same legal protections, as my husband Jim and I had. I am grateful to Governor Healey, Attorney General Campbell, Speaker Mariano, Chair Day, Leader Peake, Sen. Cyr, Sen. Tarr and Rep. Khan - and all of the advocates in the MA Parentage Coalition- particularly Polly Crozier, Doug NeJaime and Arline Isaacson, for their steadfast championing of this bipartisan legislation that acknowledges the diverse tapestry of modern families and affirms their right to legal recognition and protection under the law."

"When we won the right to marry 20 years ago, many of us thought our children and families were safe," said Arline Isaacson, co-chair, Massachusetts GLBTQ Political Caucus. "Then we learned that LGBTQ families still had major hurdles to surmount in order to secure legal protections for our families. The Parentage Act now provides those protections. This is a huge win and unquestionably the most important legislative initiative for LGBTQ families since the battle for marriage equality. We are deeply grateful to the legislative leaders and sponsors who passed this bill and to Governor Healey for being such a strong supporter of it."

Video of yesterday's ceremony is available on the Governor's YouTube channel.

The Massachusetts Parentage Act is supported by a coalition of parents, families and more than 60 organizations:

AllPaths Family Building, American Academy of Adoption and Assisted Reproduction Attorneys, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Massachusetts, ACLU of Massachusetts, American Society for Reproductive Medicine, Association of Family and Conciliation Courts - MA Chapter, BAGLY, Baystate Health, Boston IVF Fertility Clinic, Boston Medical Center, Cape Cod Healthcare, Inc., Center for Reproductive Rights, Children's Law Center of MA, Children's League of Massachusetts, Circle Surrogacy & Egg Donation, Citizens for Juvenile Justice, COLAGE, Committee for Public Counsel Services, Conceiveabilities, Csed Inc. (The Center for Surrogacy and Egg Donation), Eastern Bank Foundation, Family Equality, Fenway Health, Fertility Within Reach, Friends of Children, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), Greater Boston Family Law Inn of Courts, Greater Boston PFLAG, Human Rights Campaign, Jewish Alliance for Law & Social Action, Kauffman Law and Mediation, Keshet, Mass General Brigham, Mass NOW, Mass PPD Fund, Massachusetts Advocates for Children, Massachusetts Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Massachusetts Commission on LGBTQ Youth, Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women, Massachusetts LGBTQ Bar Association, Massachusetts LGBTQ Political Caucus, Massachusetts Medical Society, Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, Massachusetts LGBT Chamber of Commerce, Massachusetts Trans Political Coalition, MassEquality, Mental Health Legal Advisors Committee, Modern Family Law, Bruce Hale, Esq., Movement Advancement Project, National Association of Social Workers-MA Chapter, National Center for Lesbian Rights, New England Fertility Society, New England Surrogacy, Nichols, Delisle & Lightholder, OUT MetroWest, Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, Progressive Massachusetts, Reproductive Equity Now, RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association, Roxbury Youth Works, SeedTrust, SEIU 509, Transhealth, The Boston Foundation, UMass Memorial Health, and the Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Law and Public Policy.

Learn more about the Massachusetts Parentage Act.

Watch the signing ceremony:

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