Surrogacy and The Law's 'New Normal'

BY ARI EZRA WALDMAN

NBC's sitcom, The New Normal tells the story of a well-to-do gay couple that starts a family through a surrogate. The show wants to be sassy (it co-stars NeNe Leakes, an Atlanta 'Real Housewife'), heartwarming (co-stars Georgia King, the surrogate named Goldie, and her wise-beyond-her-years daughter, Bebe Wood, are nothing if not entirely adorable and the objects of our sympathy and affection), and reflective of our post-gay world (Justin Bartha and Andrew Rannells play partners David and Bryan who are in love and filled with pre-parental angst, just like every other couple expecting a child). It also shines a bright light onto a legal world where increasing importance is belied by byzantine complexity.

The law of surrogacy -- and, specifically, the law of gay surrogacy -- implicates family law, tax law, and constitutional law. And although these topics may not be at the forefront of the mind of creator Ryan Murphy, his show has the chance to go beyond the admittedly essential task of normalizing gay characters in our public culture. It could show viewers the horrors of everyday discrimination, the ways anti-gay laws stand in the way of love and family, and the irrationality of second-class citizenship. 

The pilot starts that project, but it's anyone's guess whether The New Normal will deal with its legal issues (not to mention its social, economic, racial, generational, gender and other issues) with the seriousness they deserve. Still, the pilot raises questions that those of us interested in LGBT family law must explore. To do that, I reached out to my incomparably smart colleague, Richard Vaughn, founder of the International Fertility Law Group and one of the few lawyers in this country focusing on gay surrogacy issues. I recommend you read his blog on these issues, available here. He has lectured extensively (including in my classes) and he and his husband used a surrogate to start a family of their own. Therefore, he can speak to these issues from an intellectual and practical perspective. 

AFTER THE JUMP, I analyze The New Normal pilot from a legal perspective, highlight the legal questions it raises, and work with Mr. Vaughn to provide context, answers, and even more questions.

CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE...

Watch the First Full Episode of NBC's 'The New Normal': VIDEO

Watch the first episode of The New Normal, the new NBC Ryan Murphy comedy about two gay dads, their surrogate, and their kid which has been banned by Mormon-owned Salt Lake City affiliate KSL-TV, AFTER THE JUMP...

Said Jeff Simpson, CEO of KSL’s parent company, Bonneville International: "From time to time we may struggle with content that crosses the line in one area or another. The dialogue might be excessively rude and crude. The scenes may be too explicit or the characterizations might seem offensive ... For our brand, this program feels inappropriate on several dimensions, especially during family viewing time."

Watch the full pilot episode, AFTER THE JUMP...

Darren Criss: Gay Boy Wonder

Glee creator Ryan Murphy tweets: "Who is that masked man keeping crime away from the halls of McKinley?"

One Million Moms Gripe Ineffectually At Their Televisions

First it was JC Penney, and then Toys'R'Us, and then Green Lantern, The Gap, Kraft, Marvel Comics, and D.C. Comics -- the anti-gay organization One Million Moms has ineffectually boycotted, or threatened to ineffectually boycott, more things than any ineffectual boycotters in recent memory. And they're back at it! Their current target: NBC's new sitcom, The New Normal.

From OMM's website:

To sum it up, this show is about a homosexual couple who hires a surrogate to have their baby. The season premiere is scheduled for Tuesday, September 11 at 9:30/8:30 p.m. Central. It is no surprise that openly gay Ryan Murphy, is one of the executive producers and director, who also brought us "American Horror Story," "GLEE," and "Nip/Tuck."

NBC is using public airwaves to continue to subject families to the decay of morals and values, and the sanctity of marriage in attempting to redefine marriage. These things are harmful to our society, and this program is damaging to our culture.

Note the sneering reference to "openly gay Ryan Murphy," which is supposed to mean -- what? That gays shouldn't have jobs? Or that gays shouldn't be power players in the entertainment industry? 

It is the case that consumers of all kinds of art, sitcoms to operas, are frequently exposed to sympathetic portrayals of characters they find unsavory, because the point of most art isn't to model some viewer's idea of utopia. Adults deal with it. And so do One Million Moms, most of the time. They're Christian, but they don't gripe about the atheists on The Big Bang Theory. They're probably very nice, non-violent, law-abiding citizens, but they don't gripe about the Soprano family. They only gripe about highly visible gays. Pretty weird. 

Andrew Rannells and Justin Bartha Pray for Baby, Nene Leakes and Ellen Barkin Throw Down in 'The New Normal': VIDEO

Yesterday, I previewed a clip from the upcoming Ryan Murphy NBC show The New Normal, starring Andrew Rannells and Justin Bartha, about a gay couple that forms a family through a surrogate mother.

Here's a longer preview which features more of the storyline and a throwdown between Nene Leakes and Ellen Barkin.

Check it out, AFTER THE JUMP...

'The New Normal' Gay Couple Andrew Rannells and Justin Bartha Interview a Surrogate: VIDEO

On Friday, I posted a promo photo from The New Normal, the upcoming Also just released is a clip from The New Normal starring Andrew Rannells and Justin Bartha, the new Ryan Murphy series about a gay couple who forms a family with a surrogate. The show also co-stars Ellen Barkin and Nene Leakes.

Here's a brand new clip in which Rannells and Bartha interview the potential surrogate, Goldie.

Check it out, AFTER THE JUMP...