Also known as: UPA · Uniform Parentage Act (1973) · Uniform Parentage Act (2002)
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A model statute that establishes rules for determining legal parentage of children, including through assisted reproduction and surrogacy arrangements, and eliminates distinctions based on legitimacy.
Ursula Upton and Ugo Uberti arranged for Una Unger to serve as gestational carrier using a donated embryo. State X entered a pre-birth judgment naming Ursula and Ugo as the legal parents. After the family relocated, a hospital worker in State Y asked the court to list Ursula and Ugo on the birth record. The court granted the request because the prior judgment already established parentage.
Urban Utley and Usman Uddin lived together while Usman underwent artificial insemination. Urban received the resulting twins into the home and held them out as her children. After the couple separated, the county sought child support from Urban. The court imposed the obligation because Urban qualified as a parent under the governing parentage rules.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Umar Usmani had only minimal contact with his child born to an unmarried mother. The mother placed the child for adoption without notifying Umar. He challenged the adoption on due process grounds. The court upheld the statute because it adequately protected the opportunity to develop a relationship with the child.
Una Unger gave birth to a child while married to Urban Utley. Genetic testing later showed that Ugo Uberti was the biological father. Ugo sought to establish parentage. The court applied the marital presumption and denied the claim because the statute protected the integrity of the existing family unit.
Ursula Upton and Ugo Uberti entered a gestational surrogacy agreement with Uma Unger using their own gametes. After birth, Uma sought to retain parental rights. The court enforced the agreement and awarded parentage to Ursula and Ugo because intent and genetics controlled under the applicable parentage framework.
The Act recognizes parentage established by a court judgment entered under its Article 7 or 8 provisions for assisted reproduction and gestational carrier arrangements. Such a judgment independently creates legal parentage even without a genetic or gestational connection by the intended parents. Other states must give effect to a valid judgment from a state that has adopted the relevant article.
Supporting sources
The Act lists multiple independent bases, including a court adjudication under Article 7 or 8, a valid acknowledgment of paternity, and adoption. A judgment entered in a gestational carrier proceeding counts as one such basis. Courts therefore need not reapply default rules limited to birth, genetics, or adoption when a qualifying judgment already exists.
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No. A valid parentage adjudication remains effective after the family moves. The new state must recognize the status determination rather than re-litigate parentage under its own default rules. Only proper modification or vacation proceedings can alter the judgment.
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An adjudication of de facto parentage does not disturb an existing parent-child relationship with another individual. The Act therefore permits multiple parents when the facts support additional legal relationships beyond the original parents.
Supporting sources
…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…