April 28th, 2010 | Posted by Leah | Posted in Adoption, Family Law
The April 28-May 11, 2010 issue of Indiana Lawyer includes a FOCUS section on Family Law. One of the featured articles is titled “Surrogacy Law at a Crossroads” and discusses the evolving area of surrogacy law in Indiana. The article focuses on the recent Indiana Court of Appeals ruling in In the Matter of the Paternity and Maternity of Infant R., No. 64A03-0908-JV-367. The case came about as a result of a trial court’s denial of an agreed petition to establish paternity and maternity in a case where a couple’s biological child was born to a surrogate, who was a carrier only. Indiana law presumes that the mother delivering the child is the biological mother, and the state’s current statutes do not provide a remedy for biological mothers to assert maternity in cases where their biological children are born to surrogates. The case highlights the antiquated nature of the state’s current paternity laws, which were crafted prior to in vitro fertilization and medical advances which have made surrogacy a growing practice. In her interview, Michele stated ‘“The case clearly identifies the rights of biological mothers that use a gestational surrogate to establish their maternity in a child…consistent with a father’s rights in establishing paternity.”’ To read the article in its entirety and more of Michele’s interview, visit the Indiana Lawyer website Indiana Lawyer.
While the state statutes still do not allow for enforceability of surrogacy contracts, the recent COA decision is a leap forward in acknowledging the demand for surrogacy services in Indiana and will hopefully lead to legislative changes to establish clear procedures and protect parties who wish to pursue surrogacy.
Jocham Harden Dimick Jackson offers legal services for individuals and couples exploring egg donation and gestational surrogacy agreements. Contact our office at 317-569-0770 for more information.
Tags: Michele Jackson
April 21st, 2010 | Posted by Leah | Posted in Family Law
Divorcing couples often experience additional financial hardship and family law attorneys have seen an increase in the number of marital homes in foreclosure. Indiana is increasing its efforts to assist parties facing foreclosure. A new state law passed last year gave homeowners alternatives, providing for settlement conferences with lenders. Less than 2 percent of eligible homeowners participated in the program last year according to The Indiana Foreclosure Prevention Network. Efforts to increase awareness of the service led to a pilot program in Allen County Courts, with attorney arranging the conferences. Since the launch, more than 65 conferences between borrowers and lenders have occurred since February.
With the success of the program, it will expand to St. Joseph and Marion counties in April/May, 2010 and to Monroe County by summer, with other counties participating later in the year.
The Indiana Foreclosure Prevention Network includes more than 40 lenders, banks, community organizations and housing agencies helping homeowners facing foreclosure. For more information, visit their website:
Indiana Foreclosure Prevention Network
April 20th, 2010 | Posted by Leah | Posted in Surrogacy
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Wondrous and Smart Little People
Surrogacy — By Sabrina on April 20, 2010 at 8:00 am
“How could you do this to your kids?” or some version of it flies past the ears of every surrogate at one point or another. The world in general, it seems, thinks it is within the bounds of acceptability to challenge our parenting skills when enlightened to the fact that we grow babies for other people, then give them away. But our children… oh, our children are wondrous and smart little people.
When I first explained my first surrogacy to my nearly 4 year old daughter, I was 20 weeks pregnant with twins. We had just gotten back from the big gender ultrasound and I’d decided it was time to let her in on the news that I’d waited to share it till the movements of the girls in my belly were big and easy to show others. We laid down on my bed to watch a cartoon together, and I started talking.
“Daughter…. do you want to know a fun secret surprise??!!”
“WHAT IS IT!!!!?” she yelled back.
” Do you see my big belly? It’s so big, isn’t it! Well guess what! You know how ladies can grow babies in their bellies? Like how I grew you? And how boys can’t grow babies in their bellies? Well (my intended father) really wanted to be a daddy. He REALLY wanted to have kids that were all his own. But he CAN’T!!”
“WHY???!!!” she seemed outraged on his behalf. Hearing that in my head still kind of makes me giggle.
“Because he’s a BOY!! And boys can’t carry babies in their bellies, can they?! So guess what. I’m growing his babies for him!! Isn’t that neat! There are two babies in my belly right now! They are two girl babies, and they are his babies! And I will grow them in my belly until they are big enough to come out and go to his house! And maybe he’ll let you hold them when they come out of my belly before they go to their home with their Daddy, won’t that be FUN??!! Then they will be part of his family!”
“Yes! And I can hold them and I can sing to them and I can pat them on the head! SOFTLY!”
“Yes! Maybe you can!”
How simple. Blissfully simple. The girls were born, my kids met them and patted them on the head and took pictures with then… then the girls went home. Not once were my children terrified that I was going to give them away. Not once were they confused or convinced that I’d just given their sisters to someone else. Smart little people, they grasp the facts without all of that muddled emotion that adults tend to heap on top of simple information. These weren’t our babies. They were never our babies. Facts. Just because they grew in my belly doesn’t make them mine; ours. Facts. And children, oh how they thrive on the facts. Wondrous, smart little people.
Last summer the movie UP came out in theatres. We saw it as a family shortly after our in person meeting with my current intended parents. There is a part in the movie where the married couple learns that they can’t have children and the woman is shown sitting sadly in her front yard coming to peace with it. My smart little girl leaned over to me and whispered her question,
“Why is that lady sad?”
“Well, she’s sad because she wants a baby very much, but the doctor told her that she couldn’t have one.”
“Just like Miss J?” ( my Intended Mother)
“Yes, just like Miss J.”
“Is Miss J sad like that lady?”
“I’m sure she is.”
“Well Mama, couldn’t you just grow a baby for her? YOUR tummy isn’t broken!”
Simple. Wondrous. How could I do this to my kids? With ease. My children are growing to be so much more compassionate and empathetic because of this experience we are living as a family. So much more accepting then the adults with raised eyebrows that surround them. I couldn’t be more proud.
April 14th, 2010 | Posted by Leah | Posted in Adoption
FROM U.S. CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES:
WASHINGTON – The Haiti government has requested that the United States provide them with a final list of orphans being considered under the Special Humanitarian Parole Program for Haitian Orphans. As a result, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will stop accepting new requests for consideration under the special program as of April 14, 2010, and will resume regular processing of intercountry adoptions.
USCIS believes the vast majority of adoption requests for orphans who meet the criteria of the special program have already been submitted. Since January 18, USCIS has authorized parole for more than 1,000 orphans under the special program, and as of April 5, approximately 340 cases are still being considered. The unprecedented program included safeguards to ensure that each child granted parole was truly available for adoption and had been matched to a suitable U.S. citizen for adoption.
In response to the emergency situation in Haiti following the January 12 earthquake, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano authorized the use of parole for two specific and limited groups of Haitian children:
* Children who either had full and final adoptions completed by their U.S. parents before the earthquake and who were legally confirmed as eligible for intercountry adoption by the government of Haiti.
* Children who were far enough along in the adoption process that both the U.S. and Haitian governments could verify the identity and eligibility of the children for adoption, and the U.S. government could confirm the suitability of the adoptive parents.
Going forward, intercountry adoption cases involving Haitian orphans will again be processed through normal procedures. The government of Haiti has already begun accepting new documents for adoption cases and the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince has resumed regular processing.
More information about humanitarian parole and intercountry adoption is available online at http://www.uscis.gov/humanitarianparole and http://www.uscis.gov/adoptions, or by calling USCIS toll-free at (800) 375-5283.