Judiciary committee advances bill to update Hawaii parentage law, removes donor-anonymity provision

The Senate Committee on Judiciary voted to pass SB 1231 on a recommendation to amend the measure, removing Part 10 and adopting a set of Attorney General–recommended technical changes to align Hawaii law with related probate and child-support procedures.

SB 1231 would repeal the state’s outdated parentage law and replace it with provisions largely drawn from the Uniform Parentage Act (2017). The committee’s amendment removes Part 10 — the section of the bill that drew the most public controversy because it would have codified donor-anonymity rules — and directs insertion of confidentiality language consistent with adoption record confidentiality and the Uniform Parentage Act’s section 806 where applicable.

The bill’s supporters said modernizing parentage law is necessary to provide predictable legal procedures for assisted reproduction and surrogacy. Deputy Solicitor General Lauren Chun, representing the Attorney General’s Office, told the committee the office supports the bill with suggested amendments that include corresponding changes to Hawaii’s probate code and provisions to ensure the Child Support Enforcement Agency is joined in proceedings where public assistance was used and that its staff are exempt from certain liabilities when they help with voluntary Acknowledgment of Parentage forms.

Advocacy groups, task force members and family-law practitioners offered lengthy testimony both supporting the update and pressing the committee to adopt the Uniform Law Commission’s 2024 revisions for Article 9 rather than the version in the bill. Libby Snyder of the Uniform Law Commission and Elizabeth Kent, also with the Commission to Promote Uniform Laws, urged enactment of a modern uniform act. Multiple individuals who identified as donor-conceived or as parents who used anonymous gamete donation urged the committee to adopt the 2024 Article 9 language or remove Part 10, citing identity and medical-history concerns.

Opponents and some task force members warned that adopting a donor-identification regime could have limited practical effect in Hawaii because many gametes are supplied from out of state, and they raised questions about whether state regulation would reach those donors. Senator Rhodes, chairing the committee, said the task force worked extensively on the draft and that Part 10 was the most controversial item. After discussion, the committee’s compromise was to remove Part 10 to allow the body of the bill to move forward and to insert AG-recommended conformity changes to probate and child-support references.

The committee also noted that forms reflecting the bill’s changes are included in the task force report and that the Child Support Enforcement Agency should be joined in relevant proceedings. Supporters including surrogacy attorneys and children’s advocates said the bill fills an urgent statutory gap and would allow courts to issue parentage determinations before birth in some cases.

The committee recorded the recommendation to pass SB 1231 with amendments; Chair Rhodes and others present voted to pass the measure with the amendments described.