Title 11, Domestic Relations

If a respondent fails to answer or fails to appear at trial, the court shall have the power to proceed accordingly. In such case, the court may adjudicate the respondent’s parentage or nonparentage of the child and may impose such obligations on the respondent as it deems reasona…

(1) As used in this section, “rape” means the commission of an act constituting rape under ORS 163.355, 163.365 or 163.375 or other comparable law of another jurisdiction. (2) A court with jurisdiction to adjudicate a child’s parentage may adjudicate an individual’s nonparentage …

(1) Except as otherwise provided in ORS 109.148, in a proceeding to adjudicate competing claims of, or challenges under ORS 109.067 (3), 109.070 or 109.072 to, parentage of a child by two or more individuals, the court shall adjudicate parentage in the best interest of the child,…

(1) Notwithstanding the objections of a party to an order that seeks to establish parentage, parentage of a child may be presumed for the purpose of establishing temporary child support if the person whose parentage is being established is: (a) A presumed parent; (b) Petitioning …

(1) The court, in a private hearing, shall first determine the issue of parentage. If the respondent admits the parentage, the admission shall be reduced to writing, verified by the respondent and filed with the court. If the parentage is denied, corroborating evidence, in additi…

(1) Upon motion of either party to a judgment entered under ORS 109.155, the court may set aside, alter or modify any portion of the judgment that provides for the support of the minor child or child attending school, as defined in ORS 107.108. As to any installment or payment of…

(1) If parentage of a child born out of wedlock is established pursuant to a petition filed under ORS 109.125 or an order or judgment entered pursuant to ORS 25.501 to 25.556 or 109.124 to 109.171, or if parentage is established by the filing of a voluntary acknowledgment of pare…

(1) After filing a petition described in ORS 109.125 and 109.135, the petitioner shall cause the Center for Health Statistics of the Oregon Health Authority to be served by mail with a notice setting forth the court in which the petition was filed, the date of the filing therein,…

Any contract between a parent who gave birth to a child and the child’s alleged genetic parent is a legal contract, and the admission by the alleged genetic parent of parentage of the child is sufficient consideration to support the contract. [Formerly 109.230]

Records of proceedings to adjudicate the parentage of a child’s alleged genetic parent filed in circuit court shall be open for inspection by any person without order of the court. [Formerly 109.231]

In any proceeding brought to modify or compel compliance with an order of the court issued under ORS 109.124 to 109.171, the court may render judgment awarding to a party, or directly to the party’s attorney, a sum of money determined to be reasonable as an attorney fee and costs…

As used in ORS 109.181 to 109.203: (1) “Combined relationship index” means the product of all tested relationship indices. (2) “Ethnic or racial group” means, for the purpose of genetic testing, a recognized group that an individual identifies as the individual’s ancestry or part…

(1) ORS 109.181 to 109.203 govern genetic testing of an individual in a proceeding to adjudicate parentage, whether the individual: (a) Voluntarily submits to testing; or (b) Is tested under an order of the court or a child support agency. (2) Genetic testing may not be used: (a)…

(1) Except as otherwise provided in ORS 109.181 to 109.203, in a proceeding in this state in which parentage is a relevant fact, the court or the administrator: (a) May order the child and any other individual to submit to genetic testing: (A) Upon the court’s or administrator’s …

(1) Genetic testing must be of a type reasonably relied on by experts in the field of genetic testing and performed in a testing laboratory accredited by: (a) The Association for the Advancement of Blood and Biotherapies, or a successor to its functions; or (b) An accrediting bod…

(1) A report of genetic testing must be in writing and signed under penalty of perjury by a designee of the testing laboratory. A report complying with the requirements of ORS 109.181 to 109.203 is self-authenticating. (2) Documentation from a testing laboratory of the following …

(1) Except as otherwise provided in ORS 109.182 (2), the court shall admit a report of genetic testing ordered by the court under ORS 109.184 as evidence of the truth of the facts asserted in the report. (2) A party may object to the admission of a report described in subsection …

(1) An individual is rebuttably presumed to be a genetic parent of a child if genetic testing complies with ORS 109.181 to 109.203 and the results of the testing disclose: (a) The individual has at least a 99 percent probability of parentage, using a prior probability of 0.50, as…

(1) Payment of the cost of initial genetic testing must be made: (a) By the Child Support Program if child support enforcement services are being provided under ORS 25.080; (b) By the individual or agency that made the request for genetic testing; (c) As agreed by the parties; or…

The court or the administrator shall order additional genetic testing at the request of an individual who contests the result of the initial testing under ORS 109.191. If initial genetic testing under ORS 109.191 identified an individual as a genetic parent of the child, the cour…

(1) The court may order relatives of an alleged genetic parent to submit specimens for testing if: (a) A genetic testing specimen is not available from the alleged genetic parent; (b) The individual seeking genetic testing demonstrates good cause and the court finds that the circ…

If an individual seeking genetic testing demonstrates good cause, the court may order genetic testing of a deceased individual. [2025 c.592 §49]

(1) If the court finds there is reason to believe that an alleged genetic parent has an identical sibling and evidence that the sibling may be a genetic parent of the child, the court may order genetic testing of the sibling. (2) If more than one sibling is identified under ORS 1…

Release of a report of genetic testing for parentage is subject to the privacy protections under ORS 192.531 to 192.549. [2025 c.592 §51]

ORS 109.181 to 109.203 apply to criminal cases for nonsupport under ORS 163.555 subject to the following limitations and provisions: (1) An order for the tests shall be made only upon application of a party or on the court’s initiative. (2) The compensation of the experts shall b…

(1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, a proceeding under ORS 109.206 to 109.218 to adjudicate the parentage of a child conceived by assisted reproduction, other than under a surrogacy agreement, may be commenced by: (a) An alleged intended parent; (b) The pare…

A donor is not a parent of a child conceived by assisted reproduction. [2025 c.592 §57]

(1) An individual’s parentage of a child conceived by assisted reproduction, other than under a surrogacy agreement: (a) Is established by operation of law if: (A) Before, on or after the child’s birth, the individual consents in writing to the assisted reproduction; (B) The writ…

The court shall find that an individual who is the presumed parent of a child conceived by assisted reproduction, other than under a surrogacy agreement, is not the parent of the child and that the presumption is rebutted if: (1)(a) The individual provided the gametes used in the…

If the marriage of a parent who gave birth to a child conceived by assisted reproduction, other than under a surrogacy agreement, is terminated through dissolution, annulment or legal separation before the transfer that results in a pregnancy, the former spouse of the parent who …

(1) An individual who consents to assisted reproduction, other than under a surrogacy agreement, may withdraw consent any time before a transfer that results in a pregnancy by giving written notice of the withdrawal of consent to the person who agreed to give birth to a child con…

(1) If an individual who intends to be a parent of a child conceived by assisted reproduction, other than under a surrogacy agreement, dies during the period between the date of transfer and the birth of the child, the individual’s death does not preclude the establishment of the…

(1) An individual may enter into an agreement to act as a gestational surrogate only if the individual: (a) Has attained 21 years of age; (b) Has previously given birth to at least one child; (c) Has completed a medical evaluation related to the surrogacy arrangement and the medi…

A gestational surrogacy agreement must be executed in compliance with the following rules: (1)(a) At least one party must be a resident of this state; (b) The transfer that results in the pregnancy must occur in this state; or (c) The parties must all intend that the child be bor…

(1) A gestational surrogacy agreement must comply with the following requirements: (a) A surrogate agrees to attempt to become pregnant by means of assisted reproduction. (b) The surrogate and the surrogate’s spouse or former spouse, if any, have no claim to parentage of a child …

(1) Unless a gestational surrogacy agreement expressly provides otherwise, after the agreement is signed by all of the parties: (a) The subsequent marriage of a surrogate does not affect the validity of the agreement, the consent of the surrogate’s new spouse to the agreement is …

(1) A petition and any other document related to a surrogacy agreement filed with the court shall be sealed, exempt from public disclosure under ORS 192.311 to 192.478 and may not be disclosed except: (a) To a party to the proceeding; (b) To a child conceived by assisted reproduc…

During the period after the execution of a gestational surrogacy agreement until 90 days after the birth of a child conceived by assisted reproduction under the agreement, a court of this state conducting a proceeding in which the parentage of the child is a relevant fact has exc…

(1) A party to a gestational surrogacy agreement may terminate the agreement, at any time before an embryo transfer, by giving written notice of termination to all other parties. If an embryo transfer does not result in a pregnancy, a party may terminate the agreement at any time…

(1) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (3) of this section or ORS 109.240 (2) or 109.244, on birth of a child conceived by assisted reproduction under a gestational surrogacy agreement, each intended parent is, by operation of law, a parent of the child. (2) Except as oth…

(1) ORS 109.238 applies to an intended parent even if the intended parent dies during the period between the transfer resulting in a pregnancy and the birth of the child. (2) Except as otherwise provided in ORS 109.244, an intended parent who dies before the transfer resulting in…

(1) Except as otherwise provided in ORS 109.238 (3), before, on or after the birth of a child conceived by assisted reproduction under a gestational surrogacy agreement, a party to the agreement may commence a proceeding in the circuit court for a judgment: (a) Declaring that eac…

(1) A gestational surrogacy agreement that complies with ORS 109.222 to 109.244 is enforceable. (2) If a child was conceived by assisted reproduction under a gestational surrogacy agreement that does not comply with ORS 109.222 to 109.244, the court shall determine the rights and…

As used in ORS 109.266 to 109.410, unless the context requires otherwise: (1) “Continued custody” of an Indian child has the meaning described in ORS 419B.606. (2) “Home study” means a written report documenting the result of an assessment conducted by the Department of Human Ser…

(1) The rule that statutes in derogation of common law are to be strictly construed does not apply to the adoption laws of this state. (2) An adoptive parent and a birth parent may enter into a written agreement, approved by the court, to permit continuing contact between the bir…

(1) Rules adopted by the Department of Human Services for home studies and placement reports under ORS 109.276 (7) and (8) must, at a minimum, require the department to: (a) Consider each prospective adoptive parent on the basis of the prospective adoptive parent’s ability to mee…