Reproductive Law

Loving Male Same Sex Couple Cuddling Baby Daughter In Bedroom At Home Together

Improved medical technology, societal and legal recognition of same sex marriage, and the acceptance of differing family structures have led to dramatic changes in the way children are being conceived and born. Today, many individuals previously unable to have children can form their families with the assistance of medical technology. In many cases, they require the assistance of third parties to provide the gametes used for conception or to gestate the child. The evolution of medical science has made medical solutions far more available than before, and changes in social mores and laws have greatly expanded the universe of those who can form a family. Until recently, the law in New York and New Jersey failed to evolve along with these advances. As a result, many children had an insecure legal relationship with their parents when they were conceived through Third Party Reproduction. That changed in February 2021, when the New York Child-Parent Security Act (CPSA) took effect.

It is important to have knowledgeable counsel to advise you regarding your rights, obligations, and expectations in this very specialized area of the law. Since 1996, Rumbold & Seidelman has concentrated its practice in the area of adoption and reproductive law. Denise Seidelman and Nina Rumbold played a primary role in drafting the CPSA, and Denise was the primary liaison between the legislative bill sponsors, the Governor’s Office and the Protecting Modern Families Coalition which formed to gain passage of the bill. Prior to passage of the CPSA, Rumbold and Seidelman was counsel on a number of landmark decisions in New York which expanded legal options for those forming their family through Third Party Reproduction: Doe v. New York City Bd. of Health, 5 Misc. 3rd. 424, 782 N.Y.S.2d 180 (2004) and T.V. v New York State Department of Health, 88 AD3d 290, 929 N.Y.S.2d 139 (App Div 2d, 2011) both recognized the right of a genetic mother of a child delivered by a gestational carrier to be recognized as the legal parent without having to undergo an adoption proceeding.  Rumbold & Seidelman was also counsel in the landmark case of Matter of Maria-Irene D. (Carlos A.- Han Ming T., 153 AD3d 1203 (App Div 1st, 2017), the first case in New York to apply the marital presumption to a same-sex male couple having a child with the assistance of a gestational carrier.

For over twenty years, Rumbold & Seidelman has been at the forefront of reforming New York’s restrictive and out of date parentage laws to ensure that the parents of children conceived through Third Party Reproduction have a legally secure relationship with their children.

Regardless of what form of collaborative reproduction you are considering, we can inform you of your options and provide you with the legal counsel you require to make the best choices.

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