Senate committee advances bill to allow paid surrogacy in Michigan
LANSING, Mich. (WOOD) — Michigan is closer to legalizing paid surrogacy, with a bill now headed to the full Senate for consideration.
Michigan is currently the only state in the nation with a criminal ban on compensated surrogacy, a relic of the mid-1980s ‘Baby M’ case in which a surrogate decided she want to keep the baby, which led to a legal battle that made national headlines.
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In the ’80s, the egg used in a surrogacy belonged to the woman carrying the baby. But surrogacy technology has come a long way since then and now, the egg generally is not that of the surrogate.
Still, Michigan parents like Jordan and Tammy Myers are forced to go through the lengthy and costly process of legally adopting their biological children. Target 8 first met them three years ago as they fought for rights to their twins, who were carried by a gestational surrogate and born six weeks premature.
“The process itself is degrading. It’s demoralizing,” Jordan Myers told Target 8 in 2021. “It’s very difficult.”
These days, twins Eames and Ellison are doing well and the Myers have completed the adoption process. Now, they and their attorney, Melissa Neckers of Miller Johnson, are fighting to make the path smoother for other families.
“As I stand before you, my heart is hopeful,” Tammy Myers said at a recent state Senate committee hearing. “The proposed legislation offers a glimmer of promise that no family in Michigan will ever again endure the anguish we have faced.”
The bill would lift the ban on paid surrogacy and set standards to protect the biological parents, the surrogate and the child. Surrogates would have to be at least 21, have given birth to at least one child, undergone medical and mental health evaluations and have legal representation independent of the intended parents.
Online: Senate Fiscal Agency bill analysis
One lawmaker feared the proposed law would allow exploitation of vulnerable surrogates, as did the Michigan Catholic Conference and Right to Life Michigan, which noted state law already allows for unpaid, altruistic surrogacy.
“Current law does require a legal adoption of a child who was born of one woman and then given to another person. That practices child protection to prevent the buying and selling of children and to ensure children are going to a safe home,” Genevieve Marnon of Right to Life said at the hearing.
“I encourage you to reject commercialized surrogacy, reproductive commerce and their potential reproductive exploitation,” Rebecca Mastee of the Michigan Catholic Conference told lawmakers.
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The bill’s supporters argued it establishes protections to prevent abuse and exploitation.
“I’m hopeful that Michigan will add its name to the growing list of U.S. states that have legalized and regulated surrogacy and incorporated a human rights framework to better protect the rights of surrogates and … the parents and children born via surrogacy,” Jorie Dugan of the Center for Reproductive Rights said.
The bill has already passed the Michigan House. The Democrat-led Senate Committee on Civil Rights, Judiciary and Public Safety on Thursday passed it on to the full Senate, with the committee’s two Republicans voting no. It’s unclear when the measure might make it to the Senate floor.
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