Overview

• Representative Aaron Bernstine and bipartisan colleagues unveiled legislation for the September session to bar registered sex offenders from gestational surrogacy
• The bill would extend the judicial scrutiny and accountability standards of adoption to private surrogacy agreements
• York County District Attorney Tim Barker pledged to support the reforms and assist legislators in crafting constitutionally permissible amendments
• Outrage grew in July after videos of Brandon Keith Mitchell celebrating his son went viral and an online petition gathered over 3,000 signatures calling for the child’s removal
• Under current Pennsylvania law, registered offenders face adoption and foster care bans but no equivalent restrictions on becoming parents through surrogacy