Rhode Island has enacted a law to establish a streamlined confirmatory adoption process, making it easier for LGBTQ parents to create secure legal ties to their children born through assisted reproduction.
Progress in Rhode Island
Although Rhode Island in 2020 passed the Rhode Island Uniform Parentage Act, which updated the state’s parentage laws to provide stronger, more equitable parentage protections for children in LGBTQ families and others, nongenetic and nongestational LGBTQ parents are still advised to get an adoption or other court judgment to protect their ties in case they travel to states that are less likely to respect their parentage. The adoption process, however, included a six-month waiting period, multiple court dates, home inspections, financial checks, and other requirements.
The new law, which Governor Dan McKee (D) signed on June 19th, does away with those burdens for nongenetic/nongestational parents who have already established parentage through the Uniform Parentage Act (UPA), unless a court finds good reason to do otherwise in a particular case. As GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), which helped advocate for the law, has explained:
Under the new law, parents of children born through assisted reproduction whose parentage has already been established through the Uniform Parentage Act need only submit to the court a petition signed by both parties that includes the child’s birth certificate, a marriage certificate if applicable, and a signed declaration by both parents explaining the circumstances of the child’s birth through assisted reproduction, attesting to their consent to assisted reproduction, and attesting that there are no competing claims of parentage.
The court will then grant the adoption within 30 days of finding that either the parent who gave birth and the spouse were married at the time of the child’s birth and the child was born through assisted reproduction; or, for nonmarital parents, that the person who gave birth and the non-marital parent consented to the assisted reproduction; and that no competing parental claims exist.
Methods of establishing parentage under the UPA include being married to the birthing parent when the child is born or signing a consent to assisted reproduction with the intent to parent, among other paths. Only an adoption or other court judgment is guaranteed “full faith and credit” recognition in all states, however.
House lead sponsor Rebecca Kislak (D-Dist. 4, Providence), a lesbian mom who went through the adoption process with her own two sons and spouse, said in a press statement, “This law is one additional step we need to take to fully protect families. It will make the process much easier, and give them peace of mind when they travel to another state where their rights aren’t as secure. It shouldn’t be an arduous process for people to adopt their own children, whom they have loved and parented since birth. This law will eliminate obstacles so all kinds of families will have access to the legal protections they deserve.”
Senate lead sponsor Dawn Euer (D-Dist. 13, Newport Jamestown), chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, added, “It shouldn’t take years, thousands of dollars, humiliating inspections and many court dates to get an adoption decree that merely confirms an already legally recognized, loving family. We are so happy to make this process far easier, so families can access the protection they need.”
GLAD Director of Family Advocacy Polly Crozier also noted, “With extremists escalating their attacks on LGBTQ+ people across the country, parents are rightfully worried about the safety of their children. An adoption decree provides additional security for these families.”
The new law goes into immediate effect.
The Bigger Picture
A recent report from the Movement Advancement Project has emphasized that LGBTQ parents face a patchwork of outdated parentage laws across the country that leave children vulnerable, and the processes for securing their parentage are often “complicated, costly, and time-consuming.” Some states, however, such as Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Colorado, have modernized their laws to clarify and simplify paths to parentage for all families, and other states are considering such legislation. As MAP Deputy Director Naomi Goldberg told me, the 2017 Uniform Parentage Act, a model law developed by the bipartisan Uniform Law Commission, can serve as a starting point (as it did in Rhode Island).
There may still be obstacles, though. A version of the UPA passed the Nevada legislature this session on a party-line vote, with Democrats for and Republicans opposed, but Republican Governor Joe Lombardo vetoed it on June 16th, saying that it “would unavoidably decrease judicial discretion regarding critical issues to Nevadan families.” When courts in other states, like Oklahoma and Pennsylvania, deny parentage even to married nongenetic parents in same-sex couples, however, it’s obvious that we need clear parentage laws that acknowledge the many types of families and ways of family formation today rather than relying on “judicial discretion.”
Resources For Protecting Your Family
Have questions about how all this relates to your family? Just want to know more? Try these resources:
- GLAD and I have partnered to create “LGBTQ Paths to Parentage Security,” a guide for LGBTQ parents and others that answers frequently asked questions about how LGBTQ+ parents can ensure their child-parent relationships will be secure and recognized in every state. It explains why securing one’s parentage is important, describes the latest options and terminology, and more. If you’ve ever asked, “Do I need to secure my parentage if I’m already on my kid’s birth certificate?” or wondered how to do so, this is for you.
- Please also join GLAD, COLAGE, Family Equality, Movement Advancement Project (LGBTQ MAP), and the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) for Protecting Our Families: LGBTQ+ Parents Town Hall, a free online event on June 26th, 7 pm ET / 4 pm PT, to hear from LGBTQ+ family advocates about the state of parentage laws around the U.S., what legal steps you can take to protect your relationship to your children, and what our community can do to ensure equality and security for children and families. Learn more and RSVP.