NPR’s All Things Considered today aired a segment on second-parent adoption that you should listen to right now if you’re not sure whether to do one, if you’re going to do one, or even if you’ve done one.
The hosts, Ailsa Chang and Selena Simmons-Duffin, speak with Martha and Meredith Holley-Miers, a two-mom couple in Washington, DC, who did a second-parent adoption of their first child in 2009, then delayed doing one for their second child—until the election of 2016 made them question the parental rights of Meredith, the nonbiological mother, without one.
As well they should be. Regardless of what the Trump administration may or may not do, state laws are often the determining factor in family law cases. And as I’ve reported repeatedly, citing leading LGBTQ legal organizations, second-parent adoptions or court orders of parentage are still recommended, even if both moms’ names are on the child’s birth certificate. Of course, we shouldn’t need to: it’s an intrusive and expensive procedure that puts an especially undue burden (or exposure to risk) on financially insecure families. Our families should be able to have legal recognition without it.
Kudos to NPR for shining a major media light on the issue and helping people understand that the battle to protect our families didn’t end with marriage equality. Listen below.
