Unwed Parents, Gamete Donors, and Gestational Carriers

The law of marriage equality, which once seemed settled, is now again in question. So too are the rules governing parental rights. Historically, courts assumed that parental rights flowed automatically to cisgender, heterosexual couples who were married and genetically related to a specific child. In the 1960s and 1970s, as nonmarital cohabitation began rising and the stigma surrounding nonmarital sex and pregnancy became less extreme, courts began reconsidering the essential ingredients of parenthood. We will study key cases dealing with the rights of unwed cisgender men. Then we will see how courts have tried to update or discard those cases in the context of assisted reproduction. How do courts deal with the rights of gamete donors--those whose sperm, eggs, or embryos or used for others' intended pregnancies? Gestational carriers--those who gestate a pregnancy for intended parents? What should be the ingredients of parenthood?