STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 5743 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN SENATE February 28, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. CLEARE -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes AN ACT to amend the civil rights law and the education law, in relation to establishing a cause of action for fertility fraud The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Article 5 of the civil rights law is amended by adding a 2 new section 52-e to read as follows: 3 § 52-e. Private right of action for fertility fraud. 1. Any patient 4 who has undergone an assisted reproduction procedure with a health care 5 provider, any intended parent, the spouse of any patient who has under- 6 gone an assisted reproduction procedure with a health care provider, the 7 spouse of any intended parent, or a child or person born as a result of 8 such assisted reproduction procedure shall have a private right of 9 action for damages against such health care provider under any of the 10 following conditions: 11 (a) such health care provider knowingly or intentionally performs an 12 assisted reproduction procedure using the human reproductive material of 13 the health care provider or any other donor without the patient's 14 informed written consent to treatment using human reproductive material 15 from the health care provider or from any donor other than a donor from 16 whom the patient consented to in writing; or 17 (b) such health care provider intentionally performs an assisted 18 reproduction procedure and such health care provider knows or reasonably 19 should have known that the human reproductive material was used: (i) 20 without the donor's consent; or (ii) in a manner or to an extent other 21 than that to which the donor consented. 22 2. Any patient who has undergone an assisted reproduction procedure, 23 any intended parent, the spouse of any patient who has undergone an 24 assisted reproduction procedure, the spouse of any intended parent, or a 25 child or person born as a result of such assisted reproduction procedure EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD02744-01-5
S. 5743 2 1 shall have a private right of action for damages against a donor or 2 assisted reproductive service provider under any of the following condi- 3 tions: 4 (a) such donor or assisted reproductive service provider knowingly 5 provides false or misleading information about the donor's medical 6 history including but not limited to an illness at the time of donation, 7 any past illness of the donor, or the genetic or family history of the 8 donor for the past two generations which is known to the donor at the 9 time of donation; or 10 (b) such assisted reproductive service provider knowingly uses or 11 provides human reproductive material for an assisted reproduction proce- 12 dure in a manner or to an extent other than that to which the patient 13 consented. 14 3. A donor of human reproductive material shall have a cause of action 15 against a health care provider or assisted reproductive service provid- 16 er, if the donor's human reproductive material was used: (a) without the 17 donor's consent; or (b) in a manner or to an extent other than that to 18 which the donor consented. 19 4. Damages recovered by a plaintiff pursuant to this section shall 20 include compensatory damages, including plaintiff's emotional distress 21 arising from defendant's conduct. In addition thereto, the trier of 22 fact may award punitive damages and such other non-monetary relief as 23 may be appropriate. 24 5. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to abrogate or otherwise 25 limit any right or remedy otherwise conferred by federal or state law, 26 including but not limited to, any right or remedy related to child 27 support, nor shall any award under this section be used to offset child 28 support obligations that may arise in connection with this section. 29 6. A cause of action under this section shall be commenced no later 30 than six years from the date a person discovers, or reasonably should 31 have discovered, the fertility fraud. 32 7. For purposes of this section, the following terms shall have the 33 following meanings: 34 (a) "donor" shall mean an individual who does not intend to be a 35 parent, who produces human reproductive material and provides such human 36 reproductive material to another person, other than the individual's 37 spouse, for use in an assisted reproduction procedure; 38 (b) "human reproductive material" shall mean: 39 (i) a human spermatozoon or ovum; or 40 (ii) a human organism at any stage of development from fertilized ovum 41 to embryo; 42 (c) "patient" shall mean any individual injected or implanted with 43 human reproductive material; and 44 (d) "intended parent" shall have the same meaning as in subdivision 45 (l) of section 581-102 of the family court act. 46 § 2. Section 6530 of the education law is amended by adding a new 47 subdivision 51 to read as follows: 48 51. (a) Knowingly or intentionally performing an assisted reproduction 49 procedure using the human reproductive material of the licensee or any 50 other donor without the patient's informed written consent to treatment 51 using human reproductive material from the licensee or from any donor 52 other than a donor from whom the patient consented to in writing; or 53 (b) intentionally performing an assisted reproduction procedure and 54 such licensee knows or reasonably should have known that the human 55 reproductive material was used: 56 (i) without the donor's consent; or
S. 5743 3 1 (ii) in a manner or to an extent other than that to which the donor 2 consented. 3 § 3. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall 4 have become a law, and shall apply to acts occurring on or after such 5 date.