Joanne Lax Authors Article in May 2014 Michigan Family Law Journal

Joanne R. Lax, a member in Dykema’s Health Care Practice Group whose practice includes handling all aspects of assisted reproductive technology and adoption, authored an article—“Why Pre-birth Orders of Paternity and Maternity in Gestational Surrogacy Cases are Neither ‘Pitfalls’ nor ‘Circumventions’”—that appears in the May 2014 issue of Michigan Family Law Journal. The Journal, a publication of the State Bar of Michigan Family Law Section, educates and informs members about family law issues.

Lax responds to and refutes an article in the February 2014 Michigan Family Law Journal —authored by the Hon. Jon Hulsing—which argued that gestational surrogacy pre-birth orders are risky and inappropriate. Lax demonstrates that such pre-birth orders are properly within the jurisdiction of Michigan Circuit Courts, and are fully protective of the rights of all the parties involved in gestational surrogacies – the gestational carrier herself, the Intended Parents and most importantly, the child. Lax advises attorneys and courts not to hesitate seeking or granting pre-birth orders, but instead to “embrace them as a legally appropriate mechanism” that formally and permanently recognizes the family unit “created by today’s advanced fertility treatments.”

To read this article in its entirety, click here.