Posted on October 31 2014
Relief for surrogates and egg donors- US Immigration regulation undergoes change
Surrogates and egg donors will now be accorded citizen status with access to welfare system - and will be placed in the forefront when applying for US citizenship. This wonderful change in regulations has been initiated by the Obama administration to include due recognition to foreign parents who have never set foot on the American soil.
What could never have been dreamed by many in the surrogate fraternity, this is a refreshing change to the definitions of ‘mother’ and ‘father’ who in reality are contractual carriers of parenthood. An announcement from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services says, ‘Under this new policy, a mother who meets this definition but does not have a genetic relationship with her child (for example, she became pregnant through an egg donor) will … be able to transmit U.S. citizenship to her child, if she is a U.S. citizen and all other pertinent citizenship requirements are met,”.
In the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), by being a surrogate mother to the child of an American couple, the mother becomes deserving of an American citizenship if she wishes to. Hitherto the 1965 Immigration Act also known as the Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965, was a path breaker in many ways. Anyone related to a US citizen was given privileged immigration status under the ‘family category’. This led to ‘these family’ members being eligible for subsidies, welfare programs and in turn nominate other family members to become rightful citizens of America. Now with the change in surrogacy regulations, the definition of mother and parent (including those known as gestational mothers using assisted reproductive technology) too have been accorded a sense of respect and dignity.
Critics may harper fears about its misuse, but advocates celebrate the news as a welcome change to countless mothers and babies who have been denied entry (sometimes barred from visiting US) into the ‘land of honey and milk’ or any kind of status despite being related, sometimes biologically connected to parent/s residing in the golden land.
News source: Fox News
For more news and updates on immigration and visas, visit Y-Axis News.
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New US surrogacy regulations
US citizenship to surrogate carriers
US Citizenship to surrogate mothers and egg donors
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