‘Archaic’ terms ‘mother’ and ‘father’ scrapped in Massachusetts

The words “mother” and “father” are being dropped from the US state of Massachusetts’ family law – in order to “be more inclusive to LGBTQ+ parents”.

The Massachusetts Parentage Act, which comes into force next year, replaces references to biological sex with gender-neutral phrases such as “the person who gave birth” and “other parent”.

The legislation, which affects birth certificates, child custody, and surrogacy, was backed by abortion giant Planned Parenthood in addition to LGBT activist groups such as GLAAD.

‘Outdated’

The state’s deputy governor Kim Driscoll boasted that the Act pushes “outdated norms aside”, while Senate President Karen Spilka claimed “archaic beliefs and laws no longer stand in your way as a parent”.

The new law replaces “man and woman” with “persons”, and ditches several references to “paternity” for “parentage”.

In addition, the Act enshrines surrogacy into the state’s law for the first time.

Documents

In 2022, it was revealed that the US state of Connecticut had ditched the terms mother and father from childbirth documents.

Journalist Colin Wright revealed that the state’s documentation on birth certificates, affidavits and immunisation referred to the “birth parent” and “non-birth parent” instead of the mother and father.

To obtain proof of birth, one document stated that a written statement was required “by the birth parent attesting to the date, time, and place of the live birth”.