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On January 1, 2025, the historic Massachusetts Parentage Act (MPA) went into effect after being signed by Governor Maura Healey last August. The MPA, which was the result of eight years of hard work and advocacy by families and advocates across the Commonwealth, expanded and provided clarity on the ways in which parents can legally establish parentage of their children, including those born through assisted reproduction, through surrogacy, and to same-sex parents. The bipartisan legislation represented the first update to Massachusetts’ parentage laws in 40 years.
MSPCC proudly served on a coalition of more than 60 organizations advocating for the bill’s passage. At the time, MSPCC Executive Director Nancy Allen-Scannell commented, “At MSPCC, we know that loving families are created in many ways and that families of all compositions provide a center of support and security for children. The MPA provides a clear legal framework to protect these vital relationships.”
Kate Weldon LeBlanc, Executive Director of AllPaths Family Building and Co-Chair of the MPA Coalition, reflects, “MSPCC was really there in the trenches through it all, and the organization’s partnership on the coalition was really critical in highlighting that this was a child-centered effort from the start. Children want to know that the people they consider their parents are legally their parents, and they benefit from having clarity, consistency, and security around that relationship as early as possible.”
Advocacy On The Ground
In addition to the coalition of organizations advocating for the MPA, crucial to the bill’s passage were the children and families who organized, advocated, and shared personal stories about how lack of clarity and legality around parentage had affected them. Prior to the passage of the MPA, some families – including many with same-sex parents – were forced to wait months or even years to legally establish parent-child relationships, leaving parents in a vulnerable state of limbo during which their ability to make medical decisions for their children, share their insurance benefits with their families, or retain parental rights in the event of separation were in jeopardy.
The advocacy process served as a reminder of the power of elevating the voices of those with lived experience. Polly Crozier, Director of Family Advocacy at GLAD Law and MPA Coalition Co-Chair, recalls, “Individuals and families shared real stories of harm. There were citizen-advocates in our coalition who had their children taken away and put in foster care because they didn’t have the protections provided by the MPA. It was tremendously powerful to hear from child advocates who had really suffered harm from the existing system, especially since their voices are often not heard.”
Advocates were thrilled that, thanks to their hard work, the bill passed with fully bipartisan support from start to finish: it was sponsored by Democrats and Republicans in both the House and Senate and passed both chambers unanimously. Crozier commented, “This was a really important reminder that we really can work together to accomplish things on behalf of children and families across the state.”
Implementing the MPA
When it comes to implementing the MPA, both Crozier and LeBlanc emphasize that education of key stakeholders is critical, with LeBlanc reminding organizations, agencies, and individuals, “We do not expect people to do this alone. We are here to help.”
Between the passage of the law in August of 2024 and its launch in January of 2025, the team at GLAD Law worked with attorneys to ensure they understood the nuances of the law, assisted in drafting forms for courts to use, and worked with the Registry of Vital Records and Statistics to ensure the forms being provided align with the new law. Crozier notes, “The Healey administration has been fantastic in supporting the implementation of the MPA. Good public servants want laws to succeed and benefit the public, and that has been reflected during this process.”
As with anything new, the MPA implementation process has not been without challenges. A key provision of the MPA involves expansion of access to voluntary parentage, meaning that immediately after a child’s birth, a non-biological parent can sign a voluntary acknowledgment of parentage (VAP) form in the hospital establishing their legal parentage regardless of the parents’ marital status. Prior to the MPA, this option had only been available to unmarried people – meaning that if a child was born to married parents but did not have biological ties to both, the parent(s) to whom they did not have biological ties would not immediately have legal parentage rights. Recently, the partner of a GLAD Law client gave birth at a major hospital in Massachusetts but was denied the ability to sign the VAP form due to confusion over the MPA. In response, the GLAD Law team worked directly with the hospital’s general counsel and the Vital Records Registry to retrain all birth registrars. Crozier feels this type of ongoing education will remain essential, saying, “We don’t ever want people to have that moment of feeling second-class.”
Looking Ahead
“We are so grateful the law passed in 2024, as it was so critical to secure the clarity and consistency of parentage laws in MA when we did,” says LeBlanc. Continuing to advocate for legislation that protects and advances the rights of Massachusetts children and families will remain essential in the coming years. In a recent letter to supporters, Allen-Scannell wrote, “This is a very uncertain and difficult time for many, including children and families with serious needs and the organizations they rely on for help. We are deeply concerned but we are undeterred. Since we were founded in 1878, our country has added 12 states, elected 29 Presidents, declared war 11 times, and made monumental advances in the education, health, and well-being of our children. Through it all, MSPCC has stood strong for children and families, and that will not change.”
While there will always be more work to do, Crozier feels the passage of the MPA serves as a reminder of the power of the average citizen: “ People who work in the legislature deal with hundreds of different issues and can’t be experts on every one. They learn from constituents with lived experience and advocates working on the front lines. We believe that the best policy is made and informed from the ground up, incorporating the voices of people who are directly affected. That’s what happened here.”
Key Resources
Learn more about the Massachusetts Parentage Act
