In 1973, the National Conference of Commissioners of Uniform State Laws (Uniform Law Commission or ULC) created the Uniform Parentage Act (UPA or the Act). The Act provides a uniform legal framework for establishing paternity of minor children born to both married and unmarried couples.
The Uniform Law Commission consists of a group of non-partisan lawyers and makes recommendations that provide states with research, and they draft legislation to promote the enactment of uniform state laws.
The 1973 Act was designed to eliminate discriminatory treatment of children of non-married persons and provides for a legal framework for establishing parent-child relationships.
The Act itself has been amended many times, most recently in 2017.
California adopted the original Act in 1975, and the many amendments by the ULC since then. In 2018, the Act in California was amended to include the parent-child relationship rights to members of the LGBT community.
Assembly Bill 2684 was proponed by Assemblymember Richard Bloom of Santa Monica’s 50th District. According Bloom’s press release, the bill “…updates the UPA in several ways. First, it updates terms, presumptions, and statutory provisions to ensure that parents and children are treated equally, regardless of whether the children are born to same-sex or opposite-sex couples. Next, the bill updates genetic testing provisions to clarify that they apply equally to men and women. Finally, AB 2684 creates a process whereby children conceived with donated sperm or ova can get medical information about the donor and may at 18 years of age if the donor agrees, receive identifying information about the donor.”
On September 28, 2018, then-Governor Jerry Brown signed AB 2684 into law.
After the signing of the bill, then-Equality California Executive Director Rick Zbur stated, “LGBTQ parents, like all parents, deserve to be treated fairly under the law, regardless of their income level or how they built their families. We’re grateful to Governor Brown for once again showing his support for LGBTQ families by signing AB 684 and to Assemblymember Bloom for shepherding this bill through the legislature.