The bill amends the Adoption Act and the New Mexico Uniform Parentage Act to introduce provisions for confirmatory adoptions, allowing parents of children conceived through assisted reproduction to legally affirm their parental status. It includes new definitions such as "confirmatory adoption" and "assisted reproduction," while clarifying terms like "acknowledged father," "alleged father," and "donor." The bill establishes that certain provisions applicable to father-child relationships also extend to mother-child and parent-child relationships, thereby modernizing the legal framework to better accommodate families formed through assisted reproductive technologies.

Furthermore, the bill streamlines the adoption process by exempting confirmatory adoptions from specific requirements, such as pre-placement studies and post-placement reports. It modifies notice requirements, stating that alleged fathers and individuals with terminated parental rights do not need to be served notice in adoption proceedings. Additionally, while petitioners must provide a detailed accounting of disbursements related to the adoption process, this requirement is waived for confirmatory adoptions. Overall, the bill aims to simplify the adoption process for families formed through assisted reproduction while maintaining essential legal protections.

Statutes affected:
introduced version: 32A-5-3, 32A-5-14, 32A-5-27, 32A-5-34, 40-11A-704