If a child is conceived as the result of assisted reproduction, this section clarifies that a donor (whether of sperm or egg) is not a parent of the resulting child. The donor can neither sue to establish parental rights, nor be sued and required to support the resulting child. In sum, donors are eliminated from the parental equation.

The new UPA does not deal with many of the complex and serious legal problems raised by the practice of assisted reproduction. Issues such as ownership and disposition of embryos, regulation of the medical procedures, insurance coverage, etc., are left to other statutes or to the common law. Only the issue of parentage falls within the purview of this Act. This was also the case in UPA (1973), which wholly deferred speaking on the subject except to ensure the husband's paternal responsibility when he gave his consent to what was then called "artificial insemination" of his wife (now known in the scientific community as "intrauterine insemination"). The commentary to UPA (1973) stated: "It was thought useful, however, to single out and cover . . . at least one fact situation that occurs frequently."

The new UPA goes well beyond that narrow view; it governs the parentage issues in all cases in which the birth mother is also the woman who intends to parent the child. It also ensures that if the mother is a married woman, her husband will be the father of the child if he gives his consent to assisted reproduction by his wife, regardless of which aspect of ART is utilized. UPA (1973) § 5(b) specified that a male donor would not be considered the father of a child born of artificial insemination if the sperm was provided to a licensed physician for use in artificial insemination of a married woman other than the donor's wife. The new Act does not continue the requirement that the donor provide the sperm to a licensed physician. Further, this section of the new UPA does not limit a donor's statutory exemption from becoming a legal parent of a child resulting from ART to a situation in which the donor provides sperm for assisted reproduction by a married woman. This requirement is not realistic in light of present ART practices and the constitutional protections of the procreative rights of unmarried as well as married women. Consequently, this section shields all donors, whether of sperm or eggs, (§ 102 (8), supra), from parenthood in all situations in which either a married woman or a single woman conceives a child through ART with the intent to be the child's parent, either by herself or with a man, as provided in sections 703 and 704.