Anderson, the HIV project director at Lambda Legal Defense, provides an excellent account of the difficulties encountered by LGBT and HIV positive men and women who seek the use of assisted-reproductive technologies (“ART”). These barriers include restrictions on sperm donation by gay and HIV positive men, denial of insurance coverage for ART, and denial of ART based on the provider’s religious beliefs or biases. This article provides a summary of the various types of ART and defines the basic terminology involved. In addressing the barriers to ART, Anderson makes reference to federal disability law, federal constitutional rights, FDA regulations and nonbinding recommendations, state laws relating to disability and insurance policies, and federal and state caselaw. The last part of the article describes various legal strategies to challenge the barriers LGBT and HIV positive men and women face when attempting to use ART. In the discussion of legal strategies, Anderson gives an account of recent caselaw where Lamda Legal has represented litigants.

In this analysis of the California case of K.M v. E.G. [117 P.3d 673 (Cal. 2005)] the author argues that state legislatures should more clearly define parenthood in light of recent advances in reproductive technologies. She asserts that parents using in vitro fertilization, surrogacy, ova donation or sperm donation should have statutorily defined rights.

Wald explores the parentage issues affecting children conceived using assisted reproductive technologies (ART) and children resulting from extra-marital affairs. She analyzes how courts have traditionally determined who should be recognized as legal parents. The author argues that courts should entertain parenting, custody, and visitation actions brought by as many adults as have meaningfully contributed to a child’s parenting.

Advances in assisted reproductive technology (ART) have begun to diminish the “genetic link in defining parentage.” Increasingly, legislatures and courts are recognizing the importance of “social parents,” who act as parents to children although possessing no genetic link. The author defines lesbian legal theory and then uses this critical method to examine the link, or lack thereof, between genetics and parenthood. Finally, she examines how ART and morphing social patterns are affecting the evolution of American family law.

K.M. v. E.G. [117 P.3d 673 (Cal. 2005)] is the focus of this discussion of the Uniform Parentage Act (UPA). The author asserts that the court improperly applied the UPA, although she supports the ultimate outcome of the case, in which each lesbian partner was granted the status and duties of a “parent.”

The evolution of same-sex parenting rights in California is given both a historical and a theoretical examination in this article. The Uniform Parentage Act (UPA) and recent decisions by the California Supreme Court receive the bulk of attention: Elisa B. v. Superior Court [117 P.3d 660 (Cal. 2005)]; K.M. v. E.G. [117 P.3d 673 (Cal. 2005)]; and Kristine H. v. Lisa R. [117 P.3d 690 (Cal. 2005)].

This rich legal history of same-sex parenting in America is punctuated by detailed analysis of significant cases from around the country. A traditional approach is presented in Nancy S. v. Michele G. [279 Cal. Rptr. 212 (Ct. App. 1991)], while a third-party treatment of same-sex coparents appears in five cases: In Re Olivia H. [101 Cal. Rptr. 2d 364 (Ct. App. 2000)]; In Re E.L.M.C. [100 P.3d 546 (Colo. Ct. App. 2004)]; In Re H.S.H.-K. [533 N.W. 2d 419 (Wis. 1995)]; E.N.O. v. L.M.M. [711 N.E. 2d 886 (Mass. 1999)]; and T.B. v. L.R.M. [786 A.2d 913 (Pa. 2001)]. Judicial recognition of same-sex coparenthood occurs in two analyzed cases: V.C. v. M.J.B. [748 A.2d 539 (N.J. 2000)] and In Re L.B. [122 P.3d 161 (Wash. 2005)]. Assisted reproduction cases involving same-sex parents include: Rubano v. DiCenzo [759 A.2d 959 (R.I. 2000)] and Elisa B. v. Superior Court [117 P.3d 660 (Cal. 2005)]. Enforcement of child support obligations in alternative insemination circumstances is discussed in Kristine H. v. Lisa R. [117 P.3d 690 (Cal. 2005)]. In addition to these listed cases, which are discussed in detail, several related cases receive passing attention. The article will be especially valuable to attorneys and researchers seeking citations and legal arguments.

This discussion of “the presumption of legitimacy” in parenting cases reveals tensions between some feminist theorists and gay rights advocates. The author suggests an approach to parentage cases that emphasizes genetics and gestation as central to recognition of gender equality. In particular, she examines how a biological emphasis may lead to different treatment for heterosexual and lesbian couples, in opposition to gay male couples, who seek legal recognition as parents of a child.

The California Supreme Court recently decided that the Uniform Parentage Act (UPA) encompassed the circumstances of a former lesbian couple who had conceived a child through alternative insemination. The unnamed author suggests that the court should have declined to extend the UPA as this would have alerted the legislature that the UPA needs reformation to address current family structures.