Despite enormous strides made toward equality for LGBTQ+ people in recent years, there is still progress to be made. For LGBTQ+ parents in the state of Connecticut, Governor Ned Lamont’s announcement on May 26, 2021 represents another step forward and another thing to celebrate this Pride Month.

The Governor announced that he signed into law legislation enacting the Connecticut Parentage Act, designed to give parental rights to parents and give children the security of legal parent-child relationships, regardless of the parents’ sexual orientation or gender. The new law is also intended to make it easier to establish parentage of children born to LGBTQ+ parents at birth, even when the child’s parents are not legally married to each other. In addition, the Parentage Act also provides when a child is born to intended parents through surrogacy or other assisted reproductive technologies.

The law clarifies legal provisions for maternity and paternity, modernizes language to make parentage gender-neutral, and essentially eliminates the need for the legal work-around many non-biological parents in the state have had to follow in order to legally adopt their children and become recognized as parents. Non-biological parents will now be able to become legal parents at the moment of a child’s birth by signing an acknowledgement of parentage form.

In his announcement, Governor Lamont noted that Connecticut has been at the forefront of many issues facing the LGBTQ community, and that he was proud to help expand equal protections and break down bureaucratic barriers. The bill introducing the Connecticut Parentage Act passed the state’s Senate unanimously and passed the state’s House by a vote of 141-1.

At The Surrogacy Law Center, we work to help intended parents protect their rights as they embark on the surrogacy journey to start or add to their families. Contact us to learn more!