DonorChildren

Hello friends. I’m new to this group but very much looking forward to knowing you all. I am not donor conceived. I am a product of divorce who was then co-parented well by my father and my mother who has been in a relationship with another woman for 30 years. I have worked with kids in some capacity- whether in the field of adoption or with youth- for over two decades. And I am very aware of the both the pain and diminished outcomes for children who have lost a relationship with one or both biological parents.

So I have been shocked in recent years that the child’s rights, needs, and perspective has been largely absent on matters of family policy. This has lead me to found ThemBeforeUs.com, the only organization which seeks to defend a child’s right to their mother and father in legislation on family structure.

Next month, my home state of Washington is proposing a massive overhaul of parenting laws relating to Donor Conception and Surrogacy. You can read the bill here in its entirety, the summary hasn’t been drafted yet. http://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=6037&Year=2017

Highlights:
– In the entire 55 pages, there is no mention/reference of the rights child to be in relationship with both parents. Indeed, the needs, longings, and perspective of the child is completely absent.
– It requires only one visit to WA for a surrogacy contract to be legal, in essence making the state a destination for reproductive tourism.
– An adult can be granted parental rights simply by declaring their “intent” to parent regardless of genetic connection to the child.
– If an “intended parent” dies prior to the birth of a donor conceived child, that adult is still the legal parent of the child. Even dead unrelated adults have more rights than the child in this bill.
– Commercial surrogacy (genetic and gestational) are legalized.
– The entire bill is centered on the desires of the adults.

I would like to overwhelm the sponsors and committee members with stories/quotes from donor conceived kids who feel that their rights have been violated through the process of donor conception and who object to the commercial nature of third-party reproduction. Because this is happening in my state, I can personally hand your quote to the decision makers.

If you are interested in speaking up on behalf of children’s rights and needs, please contact me.

Cheers, friends.