North Carolina SB 911: Protect Children Born from Fertility Care Act.

Bill Text

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
S 1
SENATE BILL 911

Short Title: Protect Children Born from Fertility Care Act. (Public)
Sponsors: Senator Murdock (Primary Sponsor).
Referred to: Rules and Operations of the Senate
April 30, 2026
*S911-v-1*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT TO MODIFY THE LAWS REGARDING ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION AND TO 2
PROVIDE CIVIL ACTIONS RELATED TO CHILDREN CONCEIVED THROUGH 3
THAT METHOD. 4
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 5
SECTION 1. Chapter 49A of the General Statutes reads as rewritten: 6
"Chapter 49A. 7
"Rights of Children. 8
"Article 1. 9
"Children Conceived by Artificial Insemination. 10
"§ 49A-1. Status of child born as a result of artificial insemination. 11
Any child or children born as the result of heterologous artificial insemination shall be 12
considered at law in all respects the same as a naturally conceived legitimate child of the husband 13
and wife spouses requesting and consenting in writing to the use of such the same technique. 14
"§ 49A-2. Findings. 15
The General Assembly finds that any child born using artificial insemination or assisted 16
reproductive treatment shall have the same protections and rights as a naturally conceived 17
legitimate child of the spouses or legal parental guardians. The General Assembly also finds that 18
the assisted reproductive treatment of a patient using the healthcare provider's own human 19
reproductive material, or other forms of reproductive material, without the patient's informed 20
written consent, has caused significant harm and had a severe negative impact on residents of 21
this State, including former patients and their children. This conduct has never constituted or 22
complied with the medical standard of care and violates doctor-patient trust. 23
"§ 49A-3. Definitions. 24
The following definitions apply in this Article: 25
(1) Artificial insemination. – All forms of assisted reproductive technology, 26
including intravaginal, intrauterine, or intracervical insemination, in vitro 27
fertilization and embryo transfer, and donation of egg, sperm, and embryo. 28
(2) Donor. – An individual who provides an egg, sperm, or embryo intended for 29
use in artificial insemination, whether or not for compensation. This term does 30
not include an individual who is a parent under the rules governing the 31
parentage of children conceived by artificial insemination or a parent of a 32
child born through artificial insemination. 33
(3) Healthcare. – Any phase of patient care, including testing, diagnosis, 34
prognosis, ancillary research, instructions, assisted reproduction, family 35
planning, counseling, referrals, or any other advice in connection with 36

General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 2 Senate Bill 911-First Edition
conception, or surgery or other care or treatment rendered by a physician, 1
nurse, paraprofessional, or healthcare facility, intended for the physical, 2
emotional, and mental well-being of persons. 3
(4) Healthcare provider. – An individual licensed by the North Carolina Medical 4
Board or the North Carolina Board of Nursing. 5
(5) Human reproductive material. – Human egg, sperm, or embryo. 6
(6) Patient. – A person who undergoes artificial insemination. 7
"§ 49A-4. Rights; consent. 8
(a) Rights. – If an individual consents to artificial insemination with the intent to be a 9
parent, then that individual shall be the parent of the child born from that artificial insemination, 10
vested with all rights and privileges available in this State. 11
(b) Consent. – An individual must do any of the following to qualify as a parent under 12
subsection (a) of this section: 13
(1) In a record signed before, on, or after the birth of the child by the individual 14
who gave birth to the child and by the individual who intends to be a parent 15
of the child. 16
(2) In an agreement entered into before a pregnancy is established, where the 17
individual who will give birth to the child and the individual who intends to 18
be a parent of the child both, at the time of the agreement, intend to be parents 19
of the child born from that pregnancy. 20
(c) Intent to Parent. – A failure to satisfy consent under subsection (b) of this section does 21
not preclude a court of competent jurisdiction from finding that consent if evidence presented to 22
the court shows the individual intending to parent resided in the same household as the child and 23
openly held out the child as that individual's child for the first two years of that child's life, 24
including any period of temporary absence. 25
"§ 49A-5. Civil actions. 26
(a) Violation. – No licensed healthcare provider or healthcare institution shall knowingly 27
cause the use of the healthcare provider's own human reproductive material for purposes of 28
artificial insemination without the patient's knowledge and consent. 29
(b) Civil Action. – Any patient or child born as a result of an action taken under 30
subsection (a) of this sectio