My husband is my official news collator. Every morning, we drink coffee in bed watching The Today Show while he scrolls on his phone to flag articles he thinks will impact my law practice. This 
year, for surrogacy, assisted reproduction, LGBTQ parentage and adoption, the news my husband highlighted looked bad, or for a more positive spin, the news was a wakeup call.
Surrogacy horror stories abounded. Surrogacy programs in foreign countries like Georgia trafficked and exploited young women, while one U.S. surrogacy program failed to require intended parents to take custody of their babies at birth, shockingly leaving the children in a kind of nannygate limbo, which the FBI is investigating.
Responding to this troubling news as a wakeup call, the Academy of Adoption and Assisted Reproduction Attorneys promulgated ethics rules and guidelines requiring intended parents to take custody of their children immediately upon birth and requiring criminal background checks of parties to a surrogacy agreement. Ethical practices like these will protect all parties to surrogacy, especially children.
This year, the news was a wakeup call.
The backlash against LGBTQ rights has also led to a wakeup call. Married same sex couples currently have the legal right to be named as parents on their children’s birth certificates, while unmarried same sex partners do not. Yet many, whether married or not, are taking the critical additional step of obtaining orders of parentage or adoption to protect their parental rights.
Reports of the U.S. birth rate declining dramatically dovetailed with U.S. private adoption of newborns plummeting. While adoption used to be a mainstay of my law practice, the wakeup call I urge my clients to explore is assisted reproduction. Sperm, egg and embryo donation, as well as surrogacy, are becoming tremendously successful paths to parenthood.
The piece my husband flagged for me this morning offered readers’ best advice of 2025. Here is mine: Keep your eye on the prize. If you muster strength, determination, optimism and sound legal support, you can fulfill your dream of becoming a parent.