While plenty of New Yorkers have formed families by gestational surrogacy, they almost certainly worked with carriers living elsewhere.
Because until early April, paying a surrogate to carry a pregnancy was illegal in New York state. The change to the law, which happened quietly in the midst of the state’s effort to contain the coronavirus, capped a decade-long legislative battle and has laid the groundwork for a broader movement in pursuit of what some activists have termed “fertility equality.” Still in its infancy, this movement envisions a future when the ability to create a family is no longer determined by one’s wealth, sexuality, gender or biology. “This is about society extending equality to its final and logical conclusion,” said.