Parents must adopt biological kids due to ‘archaic’ Michigan surrogate law, they say

A couple in Michigan says they are legally adopting their biological newborns that were born via surrogate.

After a five-year battle with breast cancer, Tammy Myers beat the disease but lost her ability to carry children, WOOD reported.

She and her husband Jordan wanted to grow their family — the Grand Rapids couple already share an 8-year-old daughter — and posted on Facebook seeking a gestational carrier, according to the outlet. Lauren VerMilye answered.

“She signed on to do this out of the goodness of her heart,” Tammy Myers told WOOD. “One of her friends had shared our story and she responded within minutes that she had been waiting for an opportunity like this. They wanted so badly to bless a family like ours, and they were on board. Both her and her husband.”

VerMilye gave birth to the Myers’ twins, Eames and Ellison, on Jan. 11 at just 32 weeks, WXMI reported. But it was the VerMilyes who were listed on the birth certificate, not Tammy and Jordan Myers, according to Michigan Live.

It wasn’t a mistake — it’s Michigan law, according to the outlet.

“Now, they have to adopt, legally adopt, their babies,” attorney Melissa Neckers told Michigan Live.

She explained that the state doesn’t recognize surrogacy arrangements — compensated or not — due to the Michigan Surrogacy Parenting Act, WXMI reported.

“Michigan just says, ‘You can’t do it, and if you do do it, it’s void.’ Then there’s no additional process for cutting off the parental rights of the person who gave birth to the babies, and establishing the rights of the people who are the biological parents,” Neckers told the outlet.

Prior to the birth of Eames and Ellison, both couples signed a contract stipulating the surrogacy arrangement and the Myers tried to get a court order declaring them the parents, but were denied, according to Michigan Live. So for now, the Myers family can’t get the newborns on their health insurance and are going through all the background checks, home studies and interviews necessary during the adoption process.

“It’s very difficult to just have to jump through legal hoops and spend a bunch of money (on the adoption process) just because of a law that is archaic and outdated, especially when so many judges are granting these pre-birth orders across the state,” Jordan Myers told WOOD.

Kent County Circuit Judge Daniel Zemaitis, who is now retired, said the surrogacy contract wasn’t enforceable, explaining that the “court will not ignore by judicial action the clear language of (the law),” according to Michigan Live.

“I literally cried for weeks,” Tammy Myers told WXMI. “Every time I walked around, I was hiding it from my daughter, hiding it from Jordan and just accepting that I would not being recognized as the mother, was beyond anything that I can explain.”

The couple’s next plan was to try to get Jordan Myers named the father under Michigan’s Paternity Act, but it was also rejected by another judge, according to the outlet.

“What the parties essentially are asking this court to do is validate and enforce a contract that the Michigan Legislature has expressly declared void and unenforceable as a matter of public policy,” circuit judge Scott Noto said, according to Michigan Live.

Neckers says the couple hopes to find a lawmaker who is willing to sponsor a bill in the state legislature that would update the law, WOOD reported.

Despite the challenging and expensive legal battle, Tammy Myers vowed “no matter what, we will make sure we’ll be able to bring them home,” Michigan Live reported.

This story was originally published January 20, 2021 at 7:26 AM with the headline "Parents must adopt biological kids due to ‘archaic’ Michigan surrogate law, they say."