‘Family by every definition.’ US now grants citizenship to kids born by IVF, surrogacy
In 2018, Derek Mize and Jonathan Gregg welcomed their daughter, Simone, who was born by surrogacy in England.
But the family — now living in Atlanta — was told in 2019 that Simone was not recognized as a U.S. citizen and would be treated “as if she were born out of wedlock” despite the fact her fathers are married and U.S. citizens, according to Immigration Equality, an LGBTQ immigrant rights organization.
She was allowed to enter the U.S. with her parents on a tourist visa — but it was set to expire after three months.
So, in July 2019, Immigration Equality and Lambda Legal filed a lawsuit on behalf of the family, and a federal court ordered the U.S. State Department to recognize Simone as a U.S. citizen and grant her a passport. The State Department didn’t appeal the decision, and it became final in 2020.
The Mize-Gregg family is one of several who have faced challenges in gaining citizenship for children born abroad through in-vitro fertilization, surrogacy or other assisted reproductive technology (ART) because of the State Department’s previous interpretation of requirements for determining citizenship at birth.
But on Tuesday, the State Department updated its interpretation of those requirements — allowing citizenship status for more children born abroad through assisted reproduction.
Ending a ‘deeply traumatizing’ policy
The State Department said Tuesday that children born abroad to a married couple, at least one of whom is a U.S. citizen, will be recognized as citizens at birth if they “have a genetic or gestational tie” to at least one parent, regardless of whether the parent is a citizen.
That’s a change from the department’s previous policy, which required children born abroad to have a “genetic or gestational relationship” to a parent who is a U.S citizen to be recognized as a citizen. Requirements for children born to unmarried parents, however, are unchanged.
The change is retroactive, Axios reports, meaning couples previously denied citizenship for their child can reapply.
“This updated interpretation and application of the (Immigration and Nationality Act) takes into account the realities of modern families and advances in ART from when the Act was enacted in 1952,” the department said. “This change will allow increased numbers of married couples to transmit U.S. citizenship to their children born overseas.”
Aaron Morris, executive director of Immigration Equality, called the change a “remarkable moment.”
“It demonstrates that when our community is united, and relentlessly pushes back against discrimination, we win,” Morris said in a statement. “We have once again affirmed that it is not biology but love that makes a family.”
The Mize-Gregg family told ABC News in a statement that the update is a welcome change and that the couple is “humbled” their legal fight played a role in the policy’s reversal.
“No family should have to go through the anguish, stress and indignity we went through,” the family said, according to ABC. “It was deeply traumatizing to have our own government refuse to recognize our child as a U.S. citizen because we are a gay couple.”
‘We are family by every definition’
The previous policy was established in the 1990s, ABC News reports, and it was long-criticized for being based on citizenship law established in the 1950s — before assisted reproductive technologies were available and before same-sex marriage was legal.
It recently spurred several lawsuits against former President Donald Trump’s administration from married same-sex couples who faced similar challenges to Mize and Gregg.
In 2016, Roee and Adiel Kiviti, who have been married since 2013, welcomed their first child, Lev, who was born in Canada through surrogacy and granted U.S. citizenship. Roee became a U.S. citizen in 1993 and Adiel in 2019.
But when their second child — a daughter named Kessem — was born in Canada through surrogacy in 2019, the couple was told while they were living in Maryland that her passport application was denied and that she would not be recognized as a U.S. citizen, according to Immigration Equality.
The family ultimately won a court case against the State Department, and Kessem gained citizenship.
“We are a family just as much as your family is yours. We held our daughter first the moment she was born. We were there at her birth,” Roee Kiviti told NBC News in 2019. “We are family by every definition, and we refuse to let anyone, any government official tell us otherwise.”
Allison Blixt and Stefania Zaccari were in the middle of a legal battle when the department announced the change.
The couple was raising their sons, Lucas and Massi, in London. Because Blixt, a U.S. citizen, gave birth to Massi, the U.S. recognized him as a citizen. But Lucas was denied citizenship because he was carried by Zaccari, who is an Italian citizen, Immigration Equality says.
Blixt said she and Zaccari are “relieved and thankful” the change means their legal battle is over.
“Our marriage is finally recognized and treated equally,” she said, according to Immigration Equality. “Lucas, who made me a mother, will finally be treated as my son and recognized as American, as his brother always has been.”
This story was originally published May 19, 2021 at 10:20 AM with the headline "‘Family by every definition.’ US now grants citizenship to kids born by IVF, surrogacy."
