Bill
HB 2683
HB 2683 guarantees equal parentage for every child, regardless of marriage, gender, or birth method, including surrogacy and assisted reproduction, protecting intended parents.
Status & Key Dates
- Bill number: HB 2683 (Illinois)
- Title as introduced: PARENTAGE‑EQUALITY (may be cited as the Equality for Every Family Act)
- Introduced: February 2025 (filed Feb 11, 2025; sponsor Rep. Tracy Katz Muhl)
- Procedural status (selected): Passed House (Feb 25, 2025); transmitted to Senate; committee and amendment activity in March 2025; multiple co‑sponsors added (most recently Rep. Diane Blair‑Sherlock on 2025‑05‑21)
- Effective date: the bill states “effective immediately” if enacted
Purpose / Intent
- To modernize and expand Illinois parentage law so that children have equal legal parentage rights regardless of parents’ marital status, age, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or the manner of the child’s conception or birth (including assisted reproduction and surrogacy).
- To clarify parentage outcomes for families formed through assisted reproductive technologies and gestational surrogacy, and to provide processes (including confirmatory adoptions) that secure parental status.
Major Provisions and Changes
- Public policy declaration: explicitly affirms that parent–child legal relationships and support obligations extend equally to all children irrespective of parents’ characteristics or circumstances of birth (e.g., assisted reproduction or surrogacy).
- Definitions: updates and adds definitions (e.g., “assisted reproduction,” “gestational surrogacy,” “intended parent,” “donor,” “presumed parent”) to cover gamete/embryo donation, in vitro fertilization, and related arrangements.
- Acknowledgment of parentage: permits a signed acknowledgment of parentage to establish parentage where the signatories include the person who gave birth and an alleged genetic parent, a presumed parent, or an intended parent under assisted reproduction provisions.
- Burden of proof: lowers the standard to challenge a presumption of parentage from “clear and convincing evidence” to a “preponderance of the evidence.”
- Genetic testing restrictions:
- Prohibits using genetic testing to challenge the parentage of a person who is a parent by assisted reproduction under the Parentage Act or the Gestational Surrogacy Act.
- Prohibits using genetic testing to establish the parentage of a donor (i.e., a person who provided gametes and relinquished parental rights).
- Assisted reproduction & intended parents: provides that a person who consents to assisted reproduction with the intent to be the parent is a parent of the child.
- Gestational Surrogacy Act revisions:
- Clarifies status and consequences if a surrogate’s marital status changes.
- Sets rules about termination of gestational surrogacy agreements.
- Adoption Act amendments: establishes a process for confirmatory adoption for children born through assisted reproduction to secure parental rights where needed.
- Court procedures: revises venue and notice provisions for parentage adjudications and related proceedings.
- Adds one or more new sections (e.g., Section 704.5 in the amendment) and numerous technical edits through the Parentage Act of 2015.
Who Would Be Affected
- Children born via assisted reproduction, gamete/embryo donation, or gestational surrogacy.
- Intended parents (including same‑sex couples and non‑traditional family structures).
- Gestational surrogates and their spouses/partners.
- Alleged genetic parents and presumed parents whose status may be contested.
- Donors (whose parentage the bill shields from genetic‑test‑based claims).
- Courts, adoption agencies, fertility clinics, and attorneys handling parentage/adoption/surrogacy matters.
Potential Impacts and Practical Effects
- Strengthens legal certainty for intended parents and children conceived by assisted reproduction or surrogacy by codifying parenthood pathways and restricting genetic‑test challenges in many cases.
- Lowers the evidentiary threshold to rebut certain presumptions of parentage (which could make some parentage challenges procedurally easier), while simultaneously limiting genetic testing as a tool in specified assisted‑reproduction and surrogacy contexts.
- Creates statutory avenues (acknowledgments and confirmatory adoptions) meant to reduce litigation and clarify parental rights at birth or shortly thereafter.
- Alters court practice (venue/notice) for parentage cases.
Notes
- The bill text underwent a House Committee Amendment that replaced much of the original post‑enacting clause language (March 2025).
- Multiple co‑sponsors from the Illinois House indicate broad legislative support among sponsors; further Senate action would determine final enactment.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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