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Here’s something you might not know: D.C. is one of the few places in the country that criminalizes surrogacy agreements, the practice by which a person or couple that cannot produce a child of their own via traditional means work with a woman who can.

Today D.C. Councilmember David Catania (I-At Large) introduced legislation that would legalize those agreements, allowing for couples to enter into them without the fear of the existing $10,000 fine or possible year in jail.

“District laws should encourage responsible parenting, not create obstacles for those hoping to raise children but who are unable to do so by traditional means. This legislation will legalize surrogacy parentage agreements, which are increasingly desirable or necessary options for a number of our residents,” said Catania in a press release.

As NPR reported last year, surrogacy is becoming a more attractive option for couples that can’t have their own child. Still, the U.S. is a complicated patchwork of laws on the matter; Virginia allows surrogacy agreements if certain conditions are met, while Maryland allows them based on standing case law, but not explicit statute. D.C. has banned and penalized the practice since 1993.

Interestingly, this won’t be the first attempt to allow and regulate surrogacy agreements. In 1987 Councilmember John Ray introduced legislation that would have regulated the practice by forcing the woman who would carry the child to go to counseling ahead of time and sign off on any parental rights. Additionally, the bill would have prohibited surrogacy fees.