Federal Bill Targets Surrogacy Agencies Over Sex Offender Background Checks

Federal legislators are responding to a Pennsylvania incident where a convicted sex offender successfully obtained a child through a surrogate mother arrangement. Congressman Scott Perry, a Pennsylvania Republican, has put forward federal legislation that would impose penalties on surrogacy agencies that place children with individuals who are known sex offenders.

According to the Center for Bioethics and Culture Network, the proposed legislation tackles “the current patchwork of surrogacy laws that leaves too much ambiguity.”