Family law needs to play catch-up with modern life

British Columbia’s proposed family law reforms are centered on the non-nuclear family and related issues of separation and child born with the use of surrogacy and sperm donors.  Many legal issues are on the rise as the use of surrogacy increases in various family situations.

In a recent case highlighted in the Globe and Mail, a couple who had paid a surrogate to carry their child had found out that embryonic genetic testing had revealed the child was likely to have down syndrome, leading to their request for the surrogate to abort the pregnancy. The couple had a thorough legal agreement with the surrogate, and if the surrogate refused to terminate the pregnancy then she would be responsible for raising the child.

However, a University of Calgary professor told the Globe and Mail that Canadian courts would not be likely to honour the agreement, as the court would lean towards the child’s biological parents to raise the child as being better for the child than an unrelated stranger. In this case, the surrogate ended up having an abortion for family reasons.

The case raises the question of whether the child is being treated like a product, and if the parents can effectively “return” that product if they do not want it anymore. In parts of the United States, parents who use a surrogate can sue to get their money back if the surrogate continues with the pregnancy even if they no longer want to. In other cases, couples have gotten divorced before the baby was born and the surrogate ended up as the custodial parent.

Surrogacy is on the rise in Canada and the provincial, or perhaps federal, government will have to enact legislation to govern this issue to protect the rights of those involved in this modern-day family.

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By heather - Last updated: Monday, October 11, 2010
Filed in Artificial insemination, Family Law Changes Ontario, Provincial legislation, Surrogacy, child custody •


B.C. lawsuit seeks changes to artificial insemination procedures

A woman in British Columbia is fighting to ensure that any doctor who performs artificial insemination procedures keeps permanent records about the egg and sperm donors. These records would in turn be available for access by the offspring for medical history reasons or for mere curiosity, once the offspring turns 19 years of age.

The woman told the Toronto media that, “This is not about replacing a parent. I have a dad who loves me and cares about me. But I also have a biological father who’s a mystery to me, who created half of who I am,” she said.

The lawsuit is against the British Columbia Attorney General and the College of Physicians and Surgeons, and the Supreme Court of British Columbia decided it would consider whether the lawsuit would proceed to trial. The lawsuit is also believed to be the first of its kind in all of North America.

All of the information the woman has on her biological father is a note stating his blood type, eye and hair colour as well as his height and race, but the doctor who artificially inseminated her mother cites doctor-patient confidentiality as the reason he will not provide any more information.

Currently, Ontario and other provinces have laws that let adoptees find and access records about their birth parents, but donor offspring currently do not have the same access, which this lawsuit refers to as a “double standard”.

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By heather - Last updated: Sunday, October 3, 2010
Filed in Artificial insemination •