Cryopreserved embryos: a response to "forced parenthood" and the role of intent.

Introduction Assisted reproductive technologies (ART) are changing the legal definitions of parenthood. The severing of genetic ties from gestational ones and from the social aspect of parenting has resulted in courts having to revise traditional definitions of mother and father. This has led to a legal construct known as “intended parenthood,” in which biological ties are sometimes subordinated in determining the relative parental rights and obligations of the parties. In the case of cryopreserved embryos, courts have used this “intended parenthood” doctrine in a different context, as they search for principles to guide them in making disposition of embryos upon divorce. In these cases, the courts are using the intended parenthood doctrine not to form parent-child relationships, but to deny them. Pertinent provisions of the The Uniform Parentage Act also employ this intentional parenthood doctrine, using it to deprive children born of gametes or embryos of a legal father after a divorce, unless he has expressly consented to his own parental status. Among the consequences to these children who have no legal father will be the inability of the child to look to the father for financial support and other economic benefits.