Connecticut Parentage Act

About the Connecticut Parentage Act (CPA)

The Connecticut Parentage Act (CPA) is legislation that will ensure that all Connecticut children — regardless of the circumstances of their birth or the marital status, gender, or sexual orientation of their parents — have equal access to the security of a legal parent-child relationship.

The Connecticut Parentage Act was signed into law on January 1, 2022!

Get the information you need before the law goes into effect.

Access the CPA Fact Sheet Here

Why is the Connecticut Parentage Act Needed?

Until the passage of the Connecticut Parentage Act, Connecticut was the only New England state without protections or paths to parentage for non-biological parents to establish their legal relationship with their children. This meant that the legal relationship between many of the state’s LGBTQ parents and their children was insecure, which left children vulnerable. The CPA ensures equal access to legal parentage for all children, including those with unmarried, same-sex, or nonbiological parents. Professor Douglas NeJaime and a group of Yale Law School students began working to pass the Connecticut Parentage Act CPA since 2019.

Watch a short video about the Connecticut Parentage Act:

Families Share Their Stories:

Events

On September 24, 2021, Yale Law School and GLAD held a webinar to go over this bill and what it means for Connecticut families. Get the information you need before the law goes into effect on Jan 1, 2022, from We Care Coalition leaders Professor Douglas NeJaime of Yale Law School and Patience Crozier, Senior Staff Attorney at GLAD.

Stories in the Press About Parentage and the CPA

Connecticut Post op/ed by Douglas NeJaime and Patience Crozier: Connecticut Can Take a Stand for Inequality

NBC: Changes to state parenting laws help fill gaps for same-sex couples

Mombian: Marriage Is Not Enough: Securing Parentage in New England and Beyond

Read more about the efforts of Yale Law School students to pass the Connecticut Parentage Act

WSHU: Listen to a story about testimony in favor of the CPA before the state judiciary committee

The Hartford Courant: An op/ed by Connecticut state representative Jeff Currey about the CPA.

The CT Mirror: An op/ed by Malina Simard-Halm ’23 titled “Connecticut’s parentage law discriminates against families like mine. It’s time for change.”

Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2015 landmark decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, which affirmed the fundamental right to marry for same-sex couples, the Uniform Law Commission promulgated the 2017 Uniform Parentage Act (UPA) to update prior UPA provisions and integrate Obergefell’s core holding. The CPA’s proposed reforms build on the 2017 UPA as well as the CT Supreme Court’s landmark 2008 decision in Kerrigan v. Commissioner of Public Health — which recognized the constitutional right to marry for all CT families — by ensuring Connecticut law treats all parents and their children with equal dignity and respect. The law will also institute much-needed protections for children born through assisted reproduction and all parties involved in the surrogacy process.

Contact Information

Professor Douglas NeJaime
douglas.nejaime@yale.edu
Office: 203.432.4834

Patience Crozier
Senior Staff Attorney
GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders
pcrozier@glad.org

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