Melissa Neckers is an attorney at Miller Johnson in the Grand Rapids office. She has been practicing law for 26 years and her practice areas include family building, adoption, assisted reproduction and surrogacy.

Adoption Practice

Ms. Neckers is the chair of Miller Johnson’s Adoption, Assisted Reproduction and Surrogacy Practice Group. She works closely with birth parents or prospective adoptive parents and also works closely with adoption agencies. She reviews the Michigan adoption laws and procedures, explains birthparent or adoptive parent rights, advises on legally permissible adoption costs, reviews and negotiates adoption contracts, and advises on options for post-placement arrangements.  She represents adoptive couples, single parents, step parents and guardians.

Assisted Reproductive Technologies/Surrogacy/Gestational Carrier

Ms. Neckers also works with parties in the area of assisted reproductive technologies (ART) and gestational surrogacy. She helps clients comply with the laws of Michigan and the requirements of fertility centers.  Ms. Neckers also helps clients establish parental rights once pregnancy occurs.

Since 2016, Ms. Neckers has been on the frontlines of helping change Michigan Surrogacy Law. She represents the intended parents of a widely publicized case in which biological parents were forced to adopt their biological children born via surrogate which drew national attention to Michigan’s outdated surrogacy law. She also worked tirelessly with Michigan Legislators to draft new legislation and was the only Michigan attorney to testify in support of the Michigan Family Protection Act in front of the Michigan Senate Judiciary Committee.  On April 1, 2024 Governor Whitmer signed the Michigan Family Protection Act into law.   These new laws will protect surrogates, parents and especially children born through assisted reproduction and surrogacy.

Professional Affiliations, Activities and Honors

Ms. Neckers is involved in several leadership positions at Miller Johnson including the Women’s Initiative Network Steering Committee, the firm’s Pro Bono Committee and she chairs the litigation section of the firm’s pro bono initiative MJ Action.  In 2022, Ms. Neckers was the recipient of Miller Johnson’s Cummiskey Spirit of Service Award recognizing her significant and outstanding contributions to the community through volunteering.

Ms. Neckers has been recognized as a 2024 Best Lawyers for Family Law Arbitration.

Ms. Neckers is a Fellow of the Michigan State Bar Association and is a member of the American Bar Association Assisted Reproduction Section, a member of the Legal Professional Group for the American Society for Reproductive Medicine and an attorney member of the The Society for Ethical Egg Donation (SEEDS).  She also belongs to the Grand Rapids Bar Association and State Bar of Michigan where she is a member of the Family Law and Children’s Law Section and the Alternative Dispute Resolution Section. Ms. Neckers served two terms on the Michigan Court Forms Committee’s Adoption Work Group.

Ms. Neckers is the past President of the board of directors of Legal Aid of Western Michigan and is a Fellow of the Michigan State Bar Foundation, which recognizes distinguished lawyers and supports the Foundation’s public service efforts.  She also worked for Legal Aid of Western Michigan from 1998 through 2001.

Ms. Neckers was a Law Clerk for the Honorable Patrick Snyder and the Honorable James Kieffer with Circuit Court, Civil Division in Waukesha, Wisconsin.

Articles, Interviews and Presentations

Ms. Neckers has authored, presented or been interviewed for several articles including:

• “Baby Steps: Acceptance of compensated surrogacy widens with Michigan law rewrite,” American Bar Association, June/July 2024
• “Parents Forced to Adopt Their Biological Twins Celebrate Getting Surrogacy Laws Changed (Exclusive)” People Magazine, April 1 2024
• “Paid surrogate contracts may soon be legal in Michigan despite GOP concerns,” Bridge
• “Michigan’s Monumental New Surrogacy Law Is Here! What Does It Do?,” Above the Law
• “Decriminalization of paid surrogacy heads to the governor, despite Republican opposition,” Michigan Advance, March 19, 2024
• “Michigan Senate committee takes up bills to repeal ban on compensated surrogacy agreements,” Detroit Free Press
• “Michigan Senate passes bill to legalize paid surrogacy,” Wood TV 8, March, 19 2024
• “Mich. Couple Forced to Adopt Their Biological Twins Reveal They ‘Wouldn’t Change a Thing’ About Legal Fight,” People Magazine, January 20, 2023
• “Will Proposed Bills Reverse Michigan’s Hostile Surrogacy Laws?,” Above the Law, October 5, 2022
• “Michigan couple fights to gain custody of their twins who were born via surrogate,” Good Morning America, November 24, 2021
• “Michigan couple denied parental rights to biological twins because of decades-old surrogacy law”, CBS This Morning, January 25, 2021
• “Couple Forced to Adopt Their Own Children After a Surrogate Pregnancy,” New York Times, January 31, 2021
• “Parents Denied Legal Rights to Biological Children After Using a Gestational Surrogate,” Independent, January 25, 2021
• “Parents to adopt own biological babies in surrogate controversy,” MLive, January 20, 2021
• “W. MI parents denied legal rights to their babies due to outdated law,” WoodTV, January 19, 2021
• “GR couple denied legal rights to biological twins due to ‘outdated’ Michigan fertility laws.” FOX17 West Michigan, January 19, 2021
• “Grand Rapids couple fighting for parental rights of biological twins born via surrogate,” WZZM13, January 20, 2021
• “Couple denied parental rights after using gestational carrier,”  KTVZ, January 28, 2021
• “Michigan couple denied parental rights after using gestational carrier,” WNEM, January 21, 2021 “Michigan the ‘worst’ for couples seeking surrogacy,” WOODTV8, November 20, 2019
• “Adoption, ART and paternity,” ICLE, Feb. 2016 and 2019
• “Joint legal custody nixes adoption by stepparent,” Michigan Lawyers Weekly, April 24, 2013
• “Starting the Adoption Process,” Divorce Lawyers blog, Dec. 2012
• “The Murky intersection Between Family Law and Bankruptcy,” Michigan Family Law Journal, co-authored with Rachel Hillegonds, 2010
• “Family Matters, Too,” Priority Read – Business Law Update, Winter 2004

Community Activities

Ms. Neckers is very involved with her kids’ schools and is the Clerk of the Consistory at her church. She performs pro bono work through the Pro Bono Program of Western Michigan, Michigan Immigrant Rights Center and Dispute Resolution Center West Michigan helping refugees new to the United States.

Ms. Neckers is a past board member of several community organizations.

Education

Ms. Neckers received her law degree from Marquette University Law School in 1998 and her B.A. degree from Hope College in 1995.