168-B:2 Parent-Child Relationship. –
I. A person is the parent of a child to whom she has given birth, except as otherwise provided in this chapter and if the pregnancy was established pursuant to a gestational carrier arrangement.
II. A person is the parent of a child conceived via assisted reproduction if the person, except when acting in the capacity of a donor, consents to the performance of assisted reproduction with intent to parent the resulting child or provides a gamete or gametes or an embryo or embryos for use in the assisted reproduction with the intent to parent the resulting child.
III. A donor is not a parent of a child conceived through assisted reproduction. A donor may bring a petition for non-parentage to affirm that they are not a parent of a child conceived or to be conceived via assisted reproduction. Such a petition may be brought in the court in the county where the donor resides, where the intended parent or parents reside, where the donation took place, or where the resulting child is born or is expected to be born. Such a petition may be brought either before, during, or subsequent to any pregnancy.
IV. If a child is conceived via assisted reproduction after the death of the person referenced in paragraph II, consent to assisted reproduction shall be deemed valid only if the person had consented in writing prior to death that if assisted reproduction were to occur after death, the deceased individual would be a parent of the child.
V. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a person is presumed to be the parent of a child if:
(a) The child is born to a person's spouse during the marriage, or within 300 days after the marriage is terminated for any reason, or after a decree of separation is entered by the court.
(b) Before the child's birth, the person and the child's other parent have attempted to marry each other by a marriage solemnized in apparent compliance with the law, although the attempted marriage is or could be declared void, voidable, or otherwise invalid; and
(1) If the attempted marriage could be declared invalid only by a court, the child is born during the attempted marriage, or within 300 days after its termination for any reason; or
(2) If the attempted marriage is invalid without a court order, the child is born within 300 days after the termination of cohabitation.
(c) After the child's birth, the person and the child's other parent have married, or attempted to marry each other by a marriage solemnized in apparent compliance with the law, although the attempted marriage is or could be declared void, voidable, or otherwise invalid; and
(1) The person has acknowledged parentage of the child in a writing filed with the appropriate court or state agency;
(2) With the person's consent, the person is named as the child's parent on the birth certificate; or
(3) The person is obligated to support the child under a written voluntary promise or by court order.
(d) While the child is under the age of majority, the person receives the child into the person's home and openly holds out the child as that person's child.
VI. A presumption under paragraph V may be rebutted in an appropriate action only by clear and convincing evidence. The existence of the parent-child relationship presumed under paragraph V shall not, however, be rebutted by evidence that the child was conceived by means of assisted reproduction, so long as the presumptive parent complies with the requirements of paragraph II. In the absence of such compliance, a presumptive parent's consent shall be conclusively presumed by such parent's failure to object to the parent-child relationship by filing an action to dispute parentage within 30 days after the child's birth. If 2 or more presumptions of parentage arise that conflict with each other, the presumption that on the facts is founded on the weightier considerations of policy and logic controls. The presumption shall be rebutted by a court decree establishing parentage of the child with another person.
VII. (a) Any person who is a parent pursuant to RSA 168-B:2, II, without the assistance of a gestational carrier (as gestational carrier arrangements are governed by RSA 168-B:12), may petition the court for a parentage order declaring that the intended parent or parents are the sole parents of a child resulting from assisted reproduction. Such a petition may be brought in the court in the county where the intended parent or parents reside, or where the resulting child is born or is expected to be born. Such a petition may be brought either before, during, or subsequent to the pregnancy. The court shall, within 30 days, grant the petition upon a finding that the child was conceived through assisted reproduction as defined in RSA 168-B:1, II, with the use of donor gametes or donor embryos, if applicable, and with consent to the assisted reproduction and the intent to parent. Sworn affidavits demonstrating the same shall be sufficient to permit such a finding and a hearing shall not be required unless the court requires additional information which cannot reasonably be ascertained without a hearing. Parentage orders issued under this paragraph shall conclusively establish or affirm, where applicable, the parent-child relationship.
(b) Upon the request of any party, such parentage order shall direct that any record of birth and the certificate of birth name the intended parent or parents as the sole parent or parents of the resulting child.
(c) Upon the request of any party, such parentage order shall direct that any record of birth and the certificate of birth name the intended parent or parents as the sole parent or parents of the resulting child and that such record of birth and certificate of birth shall not name the donor or donor's spouse or partner, if any, as the parent or parents of the resulting child.
(d) All proceedings pursuant to this paragraph shall be closed to the public, and papers and records pertaining to such proceedings shall be subject to inspection only upon consent of all the parties or upon a showing of good cause supported by a court order.
Source. 2014, 248:2, eff. July 21, 2014. 2020, 26:7, eff. Jan. 1, 2021. 2023, 105:3, 4, eff. Aug. 19, 2023.