Terms Used In Vermont Statutes > Title 15C > Chapter 7 - Parentage by Assisted Reproduction

• Abusive litigation: means litigation where the criteria set forth below in each of subdivisions (A)-(D) are found to have been established:

• Agency: means the Department or a child-placing public or private entity that is licensed in this State to place minors for adoption. See
• Assisted reproduction: means a method of causing pregnancy other than sexual intercourse and includes:

• Birth: includes stillbirth. See
• Child: means a person of any age whose parentage may be determined under this title. See
• Child: means a minor or an adult son or daughter, by birth or adoption. See
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Department: means the Department for Children and Families. See
• Donor: The person who makes a gift.
• Donor: means a person who contributes a gamete or gametes or an embryo or embryos to another person for assisted reproduction or gestation, whether or not for consideration. See
• Embryo: means a cell or group of cells containing a diploid complement of chromosomes or a group of such cells, not including a gamete, that has the potential to develop into a live born human being if transferred into the body of a person under conditions in which gestation may be reasonably expected to occur. See
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Fees: shall mean earnings due for official services, aside from salaries or per diem compensation. See
• following: when used by way of reference to a section of the law shall mean the next preceding or following section. See
• Gamete: means a sperm, an egg, or any part of a sperm or egg. See
• Guardian: means a person, other than a parent, appointed by a court to act as a parent for another individual and specifically authorized by the Court to place the individual for adoption. See
• Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
• Identifying information: means any information which might establish the current whereabouts of an adoptee, the adoptee's former parent or other family member, including full name, date and place of birth, and last known address. See
• Intended parent: means a person, whether married or unmarried, who manifests the intent to be legally bound as a parent of a child resulting from assisted reproduction or a gestational carrier agreement. See
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Legal custody: means the right and duty to exercise continuing general supervision of a minor as authorized by law. See
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Litigation: means any kind of legal action or proceeding, including:

• Marriage: includes civil union and any legal relationship that provides substantially the same rights, benefits, and responsibilities as marriage and is recognized as valid in the state or jurisdiction in which it was entered. See
• Minor: means a person who has not attained 18 years of age. See
• Parent: means a person who is legally recognized as a mother or father or whose consent to the adoption of a minor is required under subdivision 2-401(a)(1)-(4) or (6) of this title. See
• Parent: means a person who has established parentage that meets the requirements of this title. See
• Parentage: means the legal relationship between a child and a parent as established under this title. See
• Perpetrator of abusive litigation: means a person who files, initiates, advances, or continues litigation in violation of an order restricting abusive litigation. See
• Person: shall include any natural person, corporation, municipality, the State of Vermont or any department, agency, or subdivision of the State, and any partnership, unincorporated association, or other legal entity. See
• Physical custody: means the physical care and supervision of a minor. See
• Pleadings: Written statements of the parties in a civil case of their positions. In the federal courts, the principal pleadings are the complaint and the answer.
• Probate: Proving a will
• Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form. See
• Registry: means the adoption registry administered by the Department. See
• Relative: means a grandparent, great-grandparent, sibling, first cousin, aunt, uncle, great-aunt, great-uncle, niece, or nephew of a person, whether related to the person by the whole or the half blood, affinity, or adoption. See
• Relinquishment: means the voluntary surrender to an agency by a minor's parent or guardian, for purposes of the minor's adoption, of the rights of the parent or guardian with respect to the minor, including legal and physical custody of the minor. See
• Spouse: includes a partner in a civil union or a partner in a legal relationship that provides substantially the same rights, benefits, and responsibilities as marriage and is recognized as valid in the state or jurisdiction in which it was entered. See
• State: means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. See