Legislation to outline new rules and standards for surrogacy in Michigan, as well as repeal the state’s criminalization of paid surrogacy contracts, cleared the Democratic-led Legislature Tuesday with vocal disapproval from Republican lawmakers.
The nine-bill package is on its way to Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who is expected to sign it.
Michigan is understood to be the only state that wages criminal penalties against those who engage in paid surrogacy contracts to the tune of a misdemeanor charge, punishable by up to one year in jail and a $10,000 fine. The penalties are higher for those who organize or assist in creating the contract. They can be charged with a felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $50,000 fine.
Proponents for the bills have argued that Michigan’s current laws pertaining to surrogacy are outdated and too limited, not properly protecting parents or surrogates as families in Michigan attempt to grow their families.
“If anybody has another option, if they can avoid using Michigan somehow, I send them out of Michigan all the time,” assisted reproduction lawyer Melissa Neckers said after the votes. “It happens weekly, if not daily, that I warn people as to how hard it is going to be in Michigan. And now I don’t have to do that … It will absolutely keep people in Michigan.”
The Advance spoke in November to one of Necker’s clients, Grand Rapids resident Tammy Myers, about her nearly two-year legal battle to adopt her biological twin children, after they were born via a surrogate in 2021. She told lawmakers in a House committee that because her children were born premature, her pre-birth order to establish custody through the courts hadn’t been cleared. And although custody was eventually established, Myers said after the Senate’s vote Tuesday that she will never forget the trauma of what her family went through.
“Being here today, just shaking. I’m speechless. Just really, really grateful for the legislation,” Myers said. “It never felt behind me. There was no closure, because this was still weighing so heavy on our family, just knowing that it could happen to so many other families was huge for us.”
The package aims to specify the process for parents who utilize surrogacy to establish parentage, outline requirements to qualify to be a surrogate and create mandatory provisions for establishing legal contracts amongst other measures.
The bills passed on almost-partisan lines, with state Sens. Mark Huizenga (R-Walker) and Jon Bumstead (R-Newaygo) voting with Democrats to approve the package.
The main bill, HB 5207, outlines that to enter into an agreement to act as a surrogate a person must be at least 21, have given birth to at least one child prior, been given a medical and mental health evaluation and have independent legal representation from the other parties in the agreement. The intended parents would be subject to the same requirements, with the exception of the medical evaluation.
A few Republicans voiced their concerns for allowing paid surrogacy in the state and offered several amendments which were all shot down. Republicans said the legislation can put vulnerable women in a position to be exploited and sets a bad precedent for children in the state’s ever-changing reproductive health care sphere.
Other states with more permissive surrogacy laws have become destinations for the wealthy to partake in “commercial surrogacy” to “purchase a surrogate,” Sen. John DaMoose (R-Harbor Springs) said during his no vote explanation.
“How often would any of us imagine that a wealthy woman would serve as a paid surrogate for a poor family? Never. So why are we allowing those who struggle financially to be virtually rented. … These are the very people who deserve our protection from such indecent proposals,” DaMoose said.
Sen. Thomas Albert (R-Lowell) spoke for more than 20 minutes, urging his colleagues to vote no on the bill package that puts “vulnerable women at risk of exploitation” and “fundamentally redefines family.”
“These bills create … paths to parenthood for virtually anyone else. It doesn’t matter what their relationship is or if they have one at all. Effectively, the order of the child-parent relationship that has existed since the dawn of mankind is rewritten,” Albert said, pointing out that the new laws don’t specify the relationship between the intended parents. He further said the legislation “seems only aimed at providing a path to joint parentage outside of marriage.”
Rep. Samantha Steckloff (D-Farmington Hills) who led the legislation through the process, has been open with her colleagues about her own fertility journey. She was diagnosed with cancer in her early 30s, which now is impacting her options for growing her own family. In a statement after the Senate’s votes, she applauded stakeholders who got the bills to the finish line.
“Now our laws are set to protect people’s right to decide when and how to grow their family — an achievement made possible by the hard work and dedication of all those who supported this effort,” Steckloff said. “These laws will not only protect the rights of patients and medical professionals, but also pave the way for countless families who rely on IVF as their path to parenthood. As we celebrate this victory, let’s continue to advocate for reproductive autonomy and ensure fertility treatments are accessible to all who need them.”
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