Clarifying the Law of ART: The New American Bar Association Model Act Governing Assisted Reproductive Technology

Abstract:     
This article examines the new Model Act on Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART), which was approved by the American Bar Association in February, 2008. The authors were the chairs of the A.B.A Family Law Section Committee on Genetics and Reproductive Technologies during the years in which the Act was being drafted leading up to its approval by the Family Law Section, its review by other A.B.A. Sections and its final approval by the House of Delegates. The Article explains the meanings of technical ART terms used in the Act, and provides an analysis of issues such as informed consent, counseling and consultation, privacy, the status of children of ART, payments to donors, heath insurance and professional liability. On the important issue of parentage the Act substantially tracks the Uniform Parentage Act (U.P.A.), but the authors also discuss an alternative proposal embodied in the Model Act which in place of the U.P.A. court-approval model suggests that a legislature could consider enacting a contract-based model for determination of parentage issues. This article is the first publication examining the Model Act.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 31

Keywords: Model Act, Assisted Reproductive Technology, Uniform Parentage Act, American Bar Association, ART, Reproduction, parentage, gametes, embryos, posthumous reproduction, gamete donors, gestational carriers, surrogates mothers, surrogate contracts, prebirth orders, infertility, donor registries

Accepted Paper Series