What's happening
This bill makes it a class E felony for healthcare providers to use donor material in fertility procedures without proper patient or donor consent.
Why it matters
Protects patients from unauthorized use of reproductive material. The bill specifically targets healthcare providers who use their own or any other donor’s sperm, eggs, or embryos without explicit, written patient consent, addressing real-world cases of patient deception in fertility clinics.
Expands legal accountability beyond just patient consent. The law also makes it a felony if providers use donor material without the donor’s consent or in ways that exceed what the donor agreed to, safeguarding both patients and donors from misuse or overuse of their genetic material.
Sets a clear legal definition of “human reproductive material”. By defining this term to include sperm, eggs, and embryos at any stage from fertilized ovum onward, the bill closes potential loopholes, ensuring all stages of assisted reproduction are covered.
Establishes a felony-level deterrent for fertility fraud. By making violations a class E felony, the bill imposes significant criminal penalties, aiming to prevent unethical practices and reinforce trust in reproductive medicine.
Albany, before your first meeting.
Every bill that moved yesterday, summarized in a sentence and ranked by impact. The Albany Scorecard follows on Sundays.
Free. Unsubscribe in one click. Want alerts on specific bills? Create an account.
Who cares
Headline styles
Outlaw Fertility Fraud
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
1 Co-sponsor
History
- Referred to codes
- Referred to codes
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
301
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY (Prefiled)
January 8, 2025
Introduced by M. of A. PAULIN, SIMON -- read once and referred to the Committee on Codes
AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to establishing fertility fraud as a class E felony offense
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. The penal law is amended by adding a new section 190.90 to read as follows: § 190.90 Fertility fraud.
1. A health care provider is guilty of fertility fraud when such provider: (a) knowingly or intentionally performs an assisted reproduction procedure using the spermatozoon or ovum of the health care provider or any other donor without the patient's informed written consent to treatment using spermatozoon or ovum from the health care provider or from any donor other than a donor from whom the patient consented in writing; or
(b) intentionally performs an assisted reproduction procedure and such provider knows or reasonably should have known that the human reproductive material was used: (i) without the donor's consent; or (ii) in a manner or to an extent other than that to which the donor consented.
2. "Human reproductive material" means:
(a) a human spermatozoon or ovum; or
(b) a human organism at any stage of development from fertilized ovum to embryo.
Fertility fraud is a class E felony.
§ 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after it shall have become a law.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00797-01-5
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.