Michigan Lifts Its Ban on Paid Baby Surrogacy

Michigan’s ban on paid surrogacy—the only one in the nation—is about to bite the dust. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Monday signed “long overdue” bills that will make it legal to compensate someone 21 years of age or older to carry and deliver a pregnancy, the Detroit Free Press reported. The legislation was passed with mainly Democratic support and since it did not get the backing of two-thirds of the Senate, it won’t take effect until 90 days after this year’s legislative session ends. The ban on compensated surrogacy had been in place since 1988, forcing some families to go out of state or adopt back their own biological children instead. Some critics of the repeal suggested they were concerned it will now be easier for same-sex couples to start a family using surrogates. But Whitmer, a Democrat, called the new laws “the most pro-family thing this legislature’s been able to get done.”