---
type: "Bill"
title: "Maryland Department of Health - Birth Registration - Gestational Carriers"
description: "Maryland Department of Health - Birth Registration - Gestational Carriers"
jurisdiction: "us/states/md"
legislature: "Maryland General Assembly"
session: "2021"
identifier: "HB 549"
citation: "Maryland HB 549 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Pena-Melnyk"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 11
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2021-01-20"
last_action: "2021-05-30"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/50d8b3b3-2b65-4322-8807-928c54eebe67"
source_url: "http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/hb0549?ys=2021RS&search=True"
source_hash: "12824e4335194dd75ec4f5bf5c2f29b4b4add207ed8bfef1dc4d2236a653a9dc"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-md"]
---

# Maryland HB 549 (2021) — Maryland Department of Health - Birth Registration - Gestational Carriers

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Chapter - Maryland Department of Health - Birth Registration - Gestational Carriers** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2021RS/Chapters_noln/CH_709_hb0549t.pdf)
2. **First - Maryland Department of Health - Birth Registration - Gestational Carriers** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2021RS/bills/hb/hb0549f.pdf)
3. **Third - Maryland Department of Health - Birth Registration - Gestational Carriers** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2021RS/bills/hb/hb0549t.pdf)

## Votes

- On Third Reading — **137–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Pena-Melnyk — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2021-01-20** First Reading Health and Government Operations `referral-committee`
- **2021-01-29** Hearing 2/09 at 1:30 p.m.
- **2021-02-23** Favorable Report by Health and Government Operations `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-02-25** Favorable Adopted Second Reading Passed `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-02-26** Third Reading Passed `passage`
- **2021-03-02** Referred Finance `referral-committee`
- **2021-03-26** Favorable Report by Finance `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-03-26** Favorable Adopted Second Reading Passed `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-03-29** Third Reading Passed `passage`
- **2021-03-30** Returned Passed
- **2021-05-30** Enacted under Article II, Section 17(c) of the Maryland Constitution - Chapter 709 `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/50d8b3b3-2b65-4322-8807-928c54eebe67`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Maryland legislature records).