After trying for years to conceive children naturally, an infertile Salt Lake County couple turned to a family friend to serve as a surrogate mother.
The agreement, in which the surrogate mother agreed to waive all custody rights, resulted in the January 2000 birth of twin babies.
The parents of a healthy boy and girl are now embroiled in another problem, however, as the state refuses to recognize them as the children's biological parents.
A 1989 law entitled "Prohibition of surrogate parenthood agreements" has prevented the couple from being named on the children's birth certificates. Rather, the surrogate is listed as the children's mother. No father is listed.
On Wednesday, the couple, identified as J.R. and M.R., and the surrogate mother, identified as W.K.J., sued the state, Gov. Mike Leavitt, Attorney General Mark Shurtleff and the director of the Office of Vital Records and Statistics.
The federal lawsuit claims the law violates the couple's constitutional rights of due process and equal protection.
"I find it ironic that in the state of Utah, where we purport to be pro-family, that we would have a statute on the books like this," said Salt Lake City attorney Brian Barnard, who filed the lawsuit on behalf of the couple and the surrogate mother.
Barnard said the law aimed to prevent the practice of women having babies and selling them for profit.
"When the statute was enacted, it was a knee-jerk reaction by our legislators. They don't give much thought to long-term consequences," he said.
The suit asks for an order requiring the state to issue a birth certificate for each child naming J.R. and M.R. as the biological parents, as well as a judgment that the law is unconstitutional. It does not seek money damages.
When the couple attempted to have correct birth certificates issued, employees at the Office of Vital Records and Statistics told them to simply adopt the children. And although their attorney advised them it would probably be "cheaper and easier" to do so, the couple refused.
"They said, 'No way. These are our own kids. We're not going to adopt our children,' " Barnard said.
According to the statute, "the surrogate mother is the mother of the child for all legal purposes, and her husband, if she is married, is the father of the child for all legal purposes."
The law renders any agreement in which a woman agrees to undergo artificial insemination and agrees to terminate her parental rights unenforceable.
It also makes it a class B misdemeanor to contract with a woman to carry a child for profit. But in this case, the suit indicates that no money was exchanged between the woman and the couple.
Because of the criminal sanctions attached to the law, doctors in Utah refused to perform the in vitro fertilization procedure, Barnard said. The three had to travel to California to find a doctor willing to help them.
E-MAIL: awelling@desnews.com