But burgeoning nontraditional households also have started to catch the attention of the state's conservative legislators.

New laws enacted earlier this year and taking effect today are designed to bolster relationships in adoptions and divorces. Two others sanction midwives and surrogates.

In total, 234 bills become law today, affecting all sectors of society. One bans mini-motorcycles; another provides tuition tax credits for disabled students; and dozens make technical changes to existing programs.

But at the heart of it all is the family unit, according to Rep. Ben Ferry, R-Corinne.

"We respect the value of the family," Ferry said. "Anything we can do to preserve that, we will."

But he knows that some relationships can't be saved.

And for those, Ferry sponsored House Bill 4, which mandates mediation for divorces headed to trial.

One in three Utah divorces, or roughly 4,000 annually, are contested, with attorneys seeking to gain the best settlement for their clients in an adversarial courtroom setting. What remains are a broken couple who in many cases must retain some form of contact for the sake of their children.

The new law requires at least one mediated conversation before the parties go to trial. Lawmakers expect an open dialogue focused on how to interact in the future to ease the post-divorce relationship.

A good part of that expectation stems from a 12-year study of the effect of mediation on divorced couples conducted by professor Robert E. Emery of the University of Virginia.

The study, completed in 2001, showed that couples who attend five hours of mediation have a greater chance of avoiding a contested divorce, and interact more with their children than those who follow the standard divorce track.

"We can clearly see that mediation has a significant impact on reducing the stress in an antagonistic relationship," Ferry said.

The state courts have created a toll-free number, 1-800-620-6318, to provide help for residents of smaller communities who may have a more difficult time finding a court-sanctioned mediator to comply with the law.

Another bill, sponsored by Rep. Ann Hardy, R-Bountiful, requires that all birth mothers are offered counseling before handing over their children for adoption.

Susan Egbert, president of the Utah Adoption Council, said the law is a "way to protect the birth mother's rights and assess her own situation while she is making that critical decision."

Utah was one of 21 states that did not require at least an offer of counseling. The new law requires such an offer, and any accepted counseling will be charged to the adoption agency or the family attempting to adopt the child.

Egbert said the bill should reduce rare instances in which a birth mother feels she was pressured into giving up her child.

"To have counseling could prevent some of the complicated issues that we have been seeing," she said.

The Uniform Parentage Act makes surrogacy a legal option for the first time in 16 years. The law details how courts are to handle contracts for paid surrogacy and birth certif- icates.

Before this new law, couples using a surrogate mother to have a child had to work with out-of-state agencies. Utah surrogates had to give birth across the state line.

Lawmakers also made it easier for Utahns to give birth at home by legalizing lay midwives. The new law establishes education and training requirements and lists the medicines midwives may admin- ister.

About 600 babies are born at home each year. Most have used midwives, who until now have been legally barred from using forceps or any drugs.

Lawmakers also are paying attention to long-term family issues with the creation of the Utah Commission on Aging.

The commission will study how the doubling of the state's elderly population in the next 25 years will affect government services, transportation and caregivers. More older Utahns are electing to stay at home or move in with family members rather than go to rest homes.

mcanham@sltrib.com