The policy of denying citizenship of the United States of America to children born overseas to same-sex couples and heterosexual American couples through IVF, surrogacy, and other ART methods has been repelled.
The new policy of granting US citizenship to parents legally married and the child having genetic or gestational tie in one parent came into existence after the State Department faced several lawsuits brought by same-sex and heterosexual couples suing for their children’s citizenship with the State Department losing two federal cases in 2020.
The new policy also allows couples previously denied citizenship to their child to reapply and now transmit citizenship to their child. A State Department official stated that this policy change will not apply to unmarried couples but the retroactive policy applies back to 1952 when the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) was passed.
The previous policy came under severe criticism, as the policy was antiquated as it was based on 1950’s law crafted before in-vitro fertilization and decades before legal same sex marriage. Multiple families who fought for recognition for the citizenship of their children are now freed from anguish, stress and indignity they went through have welcomed the change in the policy.
This is a welcome step and it’s high time that countries all over the world accepted surrogacy as a legitimate medically indicated procedure which should be accessible to all respective of their nationality or status.
