Utah high court allows surrogacy agreements for gay couples
The Utah Supreme Court says language in a state law that prevented gay couples from reaching a workable agreement with a surrogate to bear their child is unconstitutional.
The Deseret News reports an opinion released by the high court Friday threw out that section of law because it denied same-sex couples a benefit long enjoyed by a husband and wife in Utah.
The decision says “same-sex couples must be afforded all of the benefits the state has linked to marriage.”
The law in question allowed judges to approve surrogacy agreements if the intended mother – meaning a woman – could not bear a child or the pregnancy would be risky.
A judge had refused to approve an agreement between a surrogate and a gay couple because both partners were male.