Can a sperm donor be a legal parent? In landmark decision, the High Court says yes

On Wednesday, the High Court handed down a landmark decision that confirmed parentage rights to a man who donated his sperm to a woman who wanted to have a child.

The ruling could impact thousands of couples and single women whose children were conceived with known sperm donors.

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• High Court decides status of sperm donor in landmark case

Gov. Walz signs parental rights law with concerns from child welfare experts

After it passed both the House and Senate unanimously, Governor Tim Walz on Monday signed a bill into law that will give Minnesotans a chance to have their parental rights restored.

While lawmakers aren't split on the new law, child welfare experts are.

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Judges can overrule parents on treatment for transgender children, Arizona Supreme Court rules

Arizona judges can require parents to provide counseling, therapy and other expert help to children who may be transgender, even if one parent doesn't support treatment, the state's highest court ruled Thursday.

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Incarcerated Mothers Can Lose Parental Rights Just For Being Incarcerated

A new report from the Marshall Project outlines how child-welfare systems take children away from incarcerated mothers, viewing former or current inmates as unfit caregivers not on the basis of prior child neglect charges, but often simply for being incarcerated.

The problem stems in part from the 1997 Adoption and Safe Families Act, which says state-funded child-welfare programs must “begin termination of parental rights” when a child has been in foster care for 15 of the last 22 months.

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Jailed parents must be included in hearings on their kids' fate, Iowa Supreme Court rules

Parents in prison or jail must be allowed to fully participate in hearings on whether their parental rights will be taken away, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled Friday.

Allowing parents who are incarcerated to participate in person or by phone in such hearings is considered best practice for juvenile court judges, but the practice is not always followed. The court's 4-3 opinion will require juvenile court judges and court staff to do more to ensure the parents can fully participate.

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Court: Parental rights rules create challenges

The Pennsylvania Superior Court admitted this week that there are some “growing pains” at the county court level with new rules that dictate that, in cases of termination of parental rights, children must be assigned attorneys who represent their interests.

The state appeals court in the past few months, in accordance with its recent opinions, as well as those from the Supreme Court, has been vacating parental termination orders and sending the cases back to the county judges who issued the rulings for clarification as to whether the children were properly represented by attorneys.

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West Virginia High Court Says Kids Can’t Inherit After Parents Lose Rights

In a decision that appears to further punish children who have already been abused, the West Virginia Supreme Court ruled that a child cannot inherit from a parent whose rights have been terminated.

“Because this disturbing decision piles even more hardship on this child whose life was already severely damaged by parental abuse and neglect, I vehemently dissent,” said Chief Justice Margaret Workman, writing in dissent of the decision along with one other judge.

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Japan on U.S. list of nations noncompliant with Hague Treaty

WASHINGTON (Jiji Press) — The U.S. State Department on Wednesday listed Japan as one of countries showing a pattern of noncompliance with the so-called Hague Treaty that sets procedures to settle cross-border parental child abduction cases.

Japan joined the Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction in 2014, and it is the first time since then that the nation has been put on the list in the department’s annual report on the issue of children taken by one parent following the breakup of international marriages.

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British toddler at center of legal battle dies

Alfie Evans, the sick British toddler whose parents won support from Pope Francis during a protracted legal battle over his treatment, died early Saturday. He was 23 months old.

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British MP proposes “Alfie’s Law” to restore parental rights in medical situations

The world watched in horror as Charlie Gard’s parents had their ability to make medical decisions forcibly taken away from them at the hands of the British government. Charlie was initially diagnosed with a rare RRM2B mitochondrial depletion syndrome, and his parents raised over $1.5 million for his care, hoping to take him to the United States to receive experimental treatment. This set off multiple court battles, as the Great Ormond Street Hospital and the British government repeatedly refused to allow them to seek care outside of the country. Charlie’s life support was ultimately removed, against his parents’ will, and he died last year.

More >> British MP proposes “Alfie’s Law” to restore parental rights in medical situations

MSP: ‘Scots smacking ban would infringe on parental freedom’

Criminalising smacking in Scotland would remove parental rights and hand them to the state, an MSP has warned.

Gordon Lindhurst, a lawyer as well as an MSP, dismantled the Scottish Government’s arguments for a ban, before accusing it of being underhand in its tactics to outlaw smacking.

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Attorney: Even the best parents should know rights in CPS investigation

Julie Baumer lost almost everything when she tried to do the right thing.

“There is no amount of compensation that can ever get back what I have lost,” she said.

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FIRST STATE IN THE NATION VOTES ON FREE-RANGE BILL OF RIGHTS! Would Decriminalize Parents Who Let Their Kids Play Outside or Wait Briefly in Car

Oh, it wasn’t called that. Nonetheless, the proposed law would have ended “neglect” investigations of parents who simply let their children play outside, walk to school, wait in the car for under 15 minutes in temperate conditions, or come home as a latchkey kid. If the parents were otherwise neglectful or abusive, of course, the state was allowed to probe. But if the parents simply trusted their kids with a little independence, the worry that they could face charges would be lifted.

More >> FIRST STATE IN THE NATION VOTES ON FREE-RANGE BILL OF RIGHTS! Would Decriminalize Parents Who Let Their Kids Play Outside or Wait Briefly in Car

Why Is the Government Telling Us How to Raise Our Kids?

he headline says it all: “Proposed Bill Would Expand Parents’ Rights, but Critics Say It Goes Too Far.” What exactly is too far when it comes to parents’ rights? In the case of this story from Fort Worth, Texas, it means that “critics” think parents shouldn’t have the right to know what their children are doing at school. Opposing this belief is Texas state senator Konni Burton, who authored the legislation. She believes that parents should be allowed access to their kids’ personal information, rather than protecting their child’s alleged right to privacy.

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Vermont high court reinstates parents' rights

The Vermont Supreme Court has ruled that the Department for Children and Families and its attorneys moved too quickly in terminating the parental rights of a mother and father in Caledonia County.

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Alberta Wildrose party votes against parents inclusion in all education matters

Wildrose party members in Alberta have overwhelmingly voted down a motion to include parents in all issues related to a child’s education, including sexual identity or identification.

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U.S.: Gay Couples in New York Can Now Seek Parental Rights For Nonbiological Kids

New York’s highest court expanded the definition of parenthood Tuesday by ruling that former same-sex couples may seek visitation and custody of children even when they aren’t the biological or adoptive parent.

More >> U.S.: Gay Couples in New York Can Now Seek Parental Rights For Nonbiological Kids

Colorado man forced to pay child support despite DNA test results

Chris Atkins leads a life that might be stranger than any episode of "The Maury Povich Show."

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Scottish plan for every child to have 'named person' breaches rights

Judges at the supreme court have ruled that the Scottish government’s controversial “named person” scheme risks breaching rights to privacy and a family life under the european convention on human rights, and thus over-reaches the legislative competence of the Holyrood parliament.

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Questions Over Parents’ Constitutional Rights Suppressed in Texas CPS Reform Hearing

Two Texas House hearings have been held to address nightmares with the Texas Child Protective Services agency. During one of those hearings, a state representative who was chairman of the committee, angrily shut-out a discussion of the due process and other constitutional rights of parents.

More >> Questions Over Parents’ Constitutional Rights Suppressed in Texas CPS Reform Hearing