Section 28.3 Aspects of Parentage

• Library: Family Law Deskbook and 2014 Supp

III. (§28.3) Aspects of Parentage

The overall focus of this chapter is parentage. The MoUPA (Missouri Uniform Parentage Act), §§ 210.817–210.852, RSMo 2000 and Supp. 2011, provides a mechanism for determining maternity as well as paternity. But in most instances, litigation under the MoUPA deals with the issue of paternity. The law presumes the husband of a married woman to be the father of the child born to her. Section 210.822, RSMo 2000. When the father of the child is not married to the mother, he is referred to as the “putative” father, or literally “thought to be,” as opposed to the father of a child born in wedlock, who is “presumed to be.” Because of this, much of the litigation involving parentage involves the issue of paternity when the mother and father are not married to each other.

But with medical technological developments in the area of assisted reproduction, there is a growing field of gestational surrogacy. This will often involve the development of legal proceedings to overcome presumptions of maternity and to establish maternity. Section 210.848, RSMo 2000, specifically provides for an action to determine the existence or nonexistence of a mother and child relationship brought by any interested...