Is surrogate legal in Michigan?
On April 1, 2024, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Witmer signed a package of bills decriminalizing paid surrogacy in the state. The Michigan Family Protection Act protects surrogates and families using surrogacy and in vitro fertilization (IVF). The earliest we could see these laws go into effect is March or April 2025. If you’re interested in becoming a surrogate, we can help you prepare for when the law takes effect.
If you’re considering surrogacy in Michigan, understanding the surrogacy laws in your area can help you feel more prepared and confident going into your surrogacy journey. When you work with an experienced surrogacy agency, you’ll have a specialist by your side every step of the way to help you reach your surrogacy goals and have the family you’ve always wanted. To learn more about becoming a surrogate in Michigan, contact us today.
To better understand the limitations involved with surrogacy in Michigan and why it’s advised against, we’ve laid out some of the important laws to know in this state, provided by surrogacy attorney Dion Roddy.
Q: Yes. Surrogacy in Michigan is legal under the Michigan Family Protection Act. House Bills 5207-5215 regulate surrogacy in Michigan and protect surrogates, intended parents and children born through surrogacy.
Q: Yes. The Michigan Family Protection Act ensures that all surrogates are able to be fairly compensated for the amazing service they are providing.
Q: No. In addition to traditional surrogacy in Michigan being illegal, the process also would involve many potentially serious complications because of a surrogate’s genetic relationship to the child. That’s why many surrogacy professionals across the United States today will only complete gestational surrogacies.
Q: Intended parent and surrogates will work with their respective attorneys to create a surrogacy agreement, also known as a surrogacy contract. The contract establishes roles and responsibilities, surrogate compensation, parentage and decisions pertaining to surrogacy-related medical procedures.
Q: Yes. Both surrogates and intended parents will have their own legal representation when drafting their surrogacy contract to ensure their individuals rights are protected.
Q: There are no specific laws addressing parentage orders in Michigan. Courts will generally enter a pre-birth order for married intended parents where at least one parent is genetically related to the resulting child.
Q: There are no particular laws that address non-citizens completing a surrogacy in Michigan. However, because of the limitations on surrogacy in Michigan in general, it’s advised that international parents pursue a surrogacy in another state to protect their rights and interests.
Q: If a pre-birth order is not entered or cannot be entered, then the intended parents must commence an adoption in order to obtain parental rights and custody. These instances may include situations where only one intended parent is genetically related to the resulting child or, in the case.
What is the Michigan Consumer Protection Act?
The Michigan Consumer Protection Act (1976 PA 331) gives consumers, prosecutors, and the Attorney General a way to fight deceptive practices. This act prohibits many unfair and deceptive trade practices and gives prosecutors more power to enforce the law.
What is the Michigan Data Protection Act?
Although Michigan has not successfully passed a Michigan privacy law, this state boasts several privacy-related laws that govern different aspects of privacy protection. Here are some privacy laws in effect in Michigan for years.
The ITPA establishes requirements for businesses to protect personal information and respond to data breaches. It includes provisions for data breach notification, disposal of personal information, and restrictions on the display of social security numbers.
The “Internet Privacy Protection Act” (IPPA or the “Act”) was enacted on December 28, 2012, establishing a social media law in Michigan. According to the Internet Privacy Protection Act, owners of commercial websites and online services that gather information on Michigan residents’ personally identifying characteristics are required to post a privacy statement outlining how the data will be used and shared.
According to the IPPA Michigan personal privacy protection act, employers are not allowed to ask workers or applicants for access to, permission to view, or disclosure of information that permits access to or viewing of “personal internet accounts,” including Gmail, Facebook, and Twitter. An employer is prohibited by the IPPA from firing, punishing, rejecting, or otherwise penalizing an employee or applicant who refuses such requests. There are several specified exclusions in the statute.
Those found in violation of the IPAA Michigan privacy act are committing a misdemeanor, which carries a maximum $1,000 fine. People can file a civil lawsuit to stop the violation, and they are entitled to receive up to $1,000 in damages, reasonable attorney fees, and court costs. However, a person must first serve the alleged offender with a written demand for the claimed violation, which must include reasonable proof of the infringement and be for no more than $1,000. Finally, it is an affirmative defense to an IPPA claim that the employer took certain actions in order to abide by applicable federal or state laws.
According to the IPPA, educational institutions are not allowed to demand the same information from current or prospective students. They are also not allowed to expel, discipline, refuse to enroll, or otherwise penalize individuals who refuse to offer access to their personal internet accounts.
Sen. Rosemary Bayer of Michigan and eight other Democrats submitted Senate Bill 1182, introducing the Michigan Personal Data Privacy Act, on September 27, 2022. The bill sought to establish consumer privacy rights, mandate specific notices to consumers regarding the processing and sale of their personal data, prohibit specific acts and practices related to such processing and sale, establish standards and practices related to such processing and sale, define the authority and responsibilities of various state government officers and entities, and establish certain funds.
Businesses that retain data on more than 100,000 customers and those that keep data on more than 25,000 consumer.
What is the family Protection Act in Michigan?
As an estate planning law firm, one of the things we frequently advise people is that when they experience a family change, like the birth of a child, they should consider updating their estate plan to protect their family. Soon, even more Michigan families will have the opportunity to plan for the future after the birth of a child, thanks to the Michigan Family Protection Act (MFPA). The MFPA makes surrogacy contracts and paid surrogacy legal in Michigan for the first time in decades.
The Michigan Family Protection Act is a package of bills—Michigan House Bills 5207 through 5215. Taken together, the bills provide legal support and protection for more family structures and families who have children in nontraditional ways. Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed the MFPA into law on April 1, 2024.
Some of the effects of the MFPA include:
- Legalizing and regulating surrogacy in Michigan. Advocates for the MFPA assert that this creates an environment that protects not only parents and surrogates, but children born through surrogacy.
- Ensuring that people who serve as gestational surrogates have independent legal representation to safeguard their rights, receive fair compensation for their services, and receive appropriate medical screening before entering into a surrogacy agreement.
- Ensuring that children who are born through assisted reproductive technology (ART), including in vitro fertilization (IVF) and surrogacy are treated equally under state law.
- Eliminating administrative hurdles that made it more challenging for LGBTQ+ families to obtain documentation of their parental status, and preventing unjust denial of the legal parent-child relationship.
- Making it easier and more cost-effective for all Michigan families to obtain formal recognition of the legal relationship between parents and their children.
As every parent knows, the relationship between parent and child is a strong and precious one. The Michigan Family Protection Act will make that relationship available to more Michigan residents—and will make it easier for parents to align the legal nature of that relationship with the personal one.
Making parenthood available to more Michigan residents and protecting the legal relationship between parents and children sounds like a good thing, and it is. But the true impact of the Michigan Family Protection Act is best seen through individual stories.
Prior to the enactment of the MFPA, Michigan had some of the strictest surrogacy laws in the nation. The result was that a Michigan couple, Tammy and Jordan Myers, were forced to adopt their own biological children. Tammy Myers was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015 and became unable to bear her own children. She and her husband Jordan worked with a gestational carrier to have their twin son and daughter, born January 11, 2021.
Unfortunately, because of the law in Michigan, Tammy and Jordan were not recognized as the legal parents of the children who were biologically theirs and whom they were raising—eve.
When did Michigan legalize surrogacy?
The Michigan legislature recently passed the Assisted Reproduction and Surrogacy Parentage Act (the Act), repealing the criminal and civil bans on surrogacy and establishing laws to regulate the process and protect all involved parties. This advisory will briefly cover the background leading up to the Act and outline some of the key components of Michigan’s new surrogacy legislation, which is set to take effect in March of 2025.
Before passage of the Act (also known as the Family Protection Act), Michigan was the last remaining state with a broad criminal ban on surrogacy arrangements. When it was instituted in 1988, this ban was one of the first surrogacy statutes enacted in the United States. Prior to passage of the new law, Michigan also had a civil ban, rendering surrogacy agreements void and unenforceable.
On April 1, 2024, the Michigan legislature passed the Act as a package of bills (HB 5207-5215), lifting the prior ban and instituting requirements for surrogacy agreements and protections for all involved parties, including the surrogate, intended parents, and child. The legislation also ensures a secure legal relationship between parents and children conceived through assisted reproduction, including in vitro fertilization. By establishing clear parental rights for those relying on surrogacy and assisted reproductive technologies, the legislation ensures that more Michigan families, including same-sex couples, have access to parental rights and protections.
The Act provides certain protections for all parties, including the following:
- Legal recognition of intended parents as the child’s legal parents
- Requirement for a written surrogacy agreement
- Protection for the surrogate’s right to make decisions regarding her own health and pregnancy
Under the Act, there are also certain safeguards specific to the surrogate, including:
- Requirement for independent legal representation for the surrogate
- Requirement for the surrogate to undergo medical and psychological evaluations
- Prohibition of certain financial incentives for surrogate services
Passage of the Assisted Reproduction and Surrogacy Parentage Act means that Michigan residents have more options for expanding their families. By providing clear legal protections and guidelines for surrogates and intended parents, the state is ensuring that all parties involved are protected throughout the process. Varnum’s Family Law and Health Care attorneys are prepared to assist those seeking guidance in navigating this new and emerging legal landscape.
What is the Michigan Data Protection Act?
Although Michigan has not successfully passed a Michigan privacy law, this state boasts several privacy-related laws that govern different aspects of privacy protection. Here are some privacy laws in effect in Michigan for years:
The ITPA establishes requirements for businesses to protect personal information and respond to data breaches. It includes provisions for data breach notification, disposal of personal information, and restrictions on the display of social security numbers.
The “Internet Privacy Protection Act” (IPPA or the “Act”) was enacted on December 28, 2012, establishing a social media law in Michigan. According to the Internet Privacy Protection Act, owners of commercial websites and online services that gather information on Michigan residents’ personally identifying characteristics are required to post a privacy statement outlining how the data will be used and shared.
According to the IPPA Michigan personal privacy protection act, employers are not allowed to ask workers or applicants for access to, permission to view, or disclosure of information that permits access to or viewing of “personal internet accounts,” including Gmail, Facebook, and Twitter. An employer is prohibited by the IPPA from firing, punishing, rejecting, or otherwise penalizing an employee or applicant who refuses such requests. There are several specified exclusions in the statute.
Those found in violation of the IPAA Michigan privacy act are committing a misdemeanor, which carries a maximum $1,000 fine. People can file a civil lawsuit to stop the violation, and they are entitled to receive up to $1,000 in damages, reasonable attorney fees, and court costs. However, a person must first serve the alleged offender with a written demand for the claimed violation, which must include reasonable proof of the infringement and be for no more than $1,000. Finally, it is an affirmative defense to an IPPA claim that the employer took certain actions in order to abide by applicable federal or state laws.
According to the IPPA, educational institutions are not allowed to demand the same information from current or prospective students. They are also not allowed to expel, discipline, refuse to enroll, or otherwise penalize individuals who refuse to offer access to their personal internet accounts.
Sen. Rosemary Bayer of Michigan and eight other Democrats submitted Senate Bill 1182, introducing the Michigan Personal Data Privacy Act, on September 27, 2022. The bill sought to establish consumer privacy rights, mandate specific notices to consumers regarding the processing and sale of their personal data, prohibit specific acts and practices related to such processing and sale, establish standards and practices related to such processing and sale, define the authority and responsibilities of various state government officers and entities, and establish certain funds.
Businesses that retain data on more than 100,000 customers and those that keep data on more than 25,000 consumer.
Can surrogates get paid in Michigan?
On April 1, 2024, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Witmer signed a package of bills decriminalizing paid surrogacy in the state. The Michigan Family Protection Act protects surrogates and families using surrogacy and in vitro fertilization (IVF). The earliest we could see these laws go into effect is March or April 2025. If you’re interested in becoming a surrogate, we can help you prepare for when the law takes effect.
If you’re considering surrogacy in Michigan, understanding the surrogacy laws in your area can help you feel more prepared and confident going into your surrogacy journey. When you work with an experienced surrogacy agency, you’ll have a specialist by your side every step of the way to help you reach your surrogacy goals and have the family you’ve always wanted. To learn more about becoming a surrogate in Michigan, contact us today.
To better understand the limitations involved with surrogacy in Michigan and why it’s advised against, we’ve laid out some of the important laws to know in this state, provided by surrogacy attorney Dion Roddy.
- Yes. Surrogacy in Michigan is legal under the Michigan Family Protection Act. House Bills 5207-5215 regulate surrogacy in Michigan and protect surrogates, intended parents and children born through surrogacy.
- Yes. The Michigan Family Protection Act ensures that all surrogates are able to be fairly compensated for the amazing service they are providing.
- No. In addition to traditional surrogacy in Michigan being illegal, the process also would involve many potentially serious complications because of a surrogate’s genetic relationship to the child. That’s why many surrogacy professionals across the United States today will only complete gestational surrogacies.
- Intended parent and surrogates will work with their respective attorneys to create a surrogacy agreement, also known as a surrogacy contract. The contract establishes roles and responsibilities, surrogate compensation, parentage and decisions pertaining to surrogacy-related medical procedures.
- Yes. Both surrogates and intended parents will have their own legal representation when drafting their surrogacy contract to ensure their individuals rights are protected.
There are no specific laws addressing parentage orders in Michigan. Courts will generally enter a pre-birth order for married intended parents where at least one parent is genetically related to the resulting child.
There are no particular laws that address non-citizens completing a surrogacy in Michigan. However, because of the limitations on surrogacy in Michigan in general, it’s advised that international parents pursue a surrogacy in another state to protect their rights and interests.
If a pre-birth order is not entered or cannot be entered, then the intended parents must commence an adoption in order to obtain parental rights and custody. These instances may include situations where only one intended parent is genetically related to the resulting child or, in the case