Metro Weekly

New DC law extends parental rights to consenting lesbians in cases of artificial insemination

”The new law, which took effect on July 18, 2009, provides that when a woman bears a child conceived by artificial insemination, and her spouse or unmarried partner consents in writing to the insemination, the consenting spouse or partner is a legal parent. That person’s name will appear as a parent on the child’s birth certificate. With the enactment of this measure, the District has become the first jurisdiction in the country to enact a statute specifically providing children born through artificial insemination with two legal parents from the beginning even when those parents are a same-sex or different-sex unmarried couple.”

Portion of a statement released by the National Center for Lesbian Rights in regards to a new law in the District of Columbia that, in part, extends the legal parental rights of a non-birthing lesbian. (NCLR)

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