Also known as: Uniform Parentage Act · UPA
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A uniform act that supplies rules and presumptions for determining legal parentage of a child. The act addresses parentage in cases of assisted reproduction and surrogacy by directing courts to apply its Article 8 provisions to establish the parent-child relationship.
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Umar Underwood and his spouse enter a gestational surrogacy agreement with Uliana Ustinova. After the child is born, a court must decide parentage. The court applies the Uniform Parentage Act Article 8 to identify the intended parents as the legal parents rather than the surrogate.
Ugo Uberti and her partner Ulric Unger agree that Ulric will undergo artificial insemination. After twins are born, Ugo supports the children and holds them out as her own. A support action follows in which the court treats Ugo as a parent under the Uniform Parentage Act.
Ulysses Ulrich is married to Uliana Ustinova when she gives birth. Another man claims paternity. The court applies the marital presumption under the Uniform Parentage Act and requires the challenger to overcome the presumption before altering parentage.
Usman Uddin and his wife provide gametes for a child carried by a gestational surrogate. After birth the surrogate seeks parental rights. The court looks to the parties' intent at the time of conception under the Uniform Parentage Act and awards parentage to the intended parents.
Ulric Unger fathers a child but does not register with the putative father registry. The mother places the child for adoption. The court holds that the Uniform Parentage Act provisions incorporated into state law do not require notice to an unwed father who failed to establish a substantial relationship with the child.
The act directs courts to apply its Article 8 provisions when a child is conceived by assisted reproduction and born to a gestational surrogate. Courts examine the intent of the parties and the existence of a validated gestational agreement to establish legal parentage.
Article 8 requires a court hearing with findings that the intended parents meet adoptive-parent standards, that all parties act voluntarily, and that the gestational carrier's spouse joins the proceeding when applicable.
…attributes of their respective bodies of family law. For example, as of the end of 1982, only eight States had adopted the Uniform Parentage Act. 9A U. L. A. 171 (Supp. 1983). [^maj-12]: See Hafen, Marriage, Kinship, and Sexual Privacy, 81 Mich. L. Rev. 463, 479-481 (1983). [^maj-13]: See Trimble v. Gordon , 430 U. S. 762, 769…