By Katy Faust
The “Uniform Parentage Act” in Washington State is some of the most radical and dangerous legislation regarding the rights of children. PLEASE SHARE this post and tag your Washington friends.
According to Senate Bill 6037 there are no limits on the number, sex, marital status, or genetic connection of the adults who can become “parents” of a child. Six men could, for example, draft a contract, obtain or use their own sperm, purchase an egg, hire a poor woman to gestate the child, and walk out of the hospital with the full force of our State Government giving all six men parental authority over that baby.
You can contact your legislators by calling them at the Legislative Hotline at 1-800-562-6000 or email them by clicking here. Even if you don’t know who your legislators are, providing your address to the Hotline number or to the form in the link above will quickly identify your representatives and get the message to the right person.
Things you could say to your representative:
“I’ve never met a child who didn’t mourn their lost parent. This bill would normalize, incentivize, and promote that kind of life-long wound. And put the state’s seal of approval on it.”
“I don’t think that kids should be cut-and-pasted into the lives of just any adults who can acquire them. I think they have a right to be known and loved by their mother and father whenever possible. But this bill treats them as commodities which can be swapped and traded among adults.”
“I oppose any kind of monetary transition when it comes to creating babies. People should not be bought and sold.”
“I am an adoptive parent and I had to rightly undergo extensive vetting and background checks prior to having an unrelated child placed with me. This bill grants parental authority to biological strangers who do not have to undergo any kind screening to become parents. That is a dangerous double standard.”
“I never knew my father. And I wouldn’t wish that life on anyone. But instead of recognizing my scenario as a tragedy, this bill actually encourages the creation of fatherless children as long as the adults have a valid contract.”
“I love researching my genealogy and heritage. I love being part of a larger family story. I cannot imagine the law endorsing the loss of 50% or 100% of a child’s heritage as if it won’t matter to them.”
“I think it’s strange that biology matters enough to these adults who often create a child with a genetic connection to one of them. Yet they totally disregard the fact that the child probably cares about biology too and will seek out the other half of their biological identity.”
“Much of the rest of the world, especially poor developing countries, are running from surrogacy because it exploits women and children. This bill makes Washington a destination for commercial surrogacy tourism. No thanks. I want my state to be known for anti-trafficking efforts, not baby selling.”
“Even if you pass this bill, do you think you can legislate away a child’s yearning for their missing parent? Many adopted children who are well-loved by adoptive parents still desire to find and know their birth parents. Shouldn’t our laws reflect their primal needs not the desires of adults?”
“I didn’t know anything about this subject, but then I read some of the stories of kids who are intentionally mother- and fatherless because of donor-conception and surrogacy. If we pass this bill, we will be ignoring the most important voices on this issue- the children.”
For more statements from donor-conceived people, click here.
