New York’s New Adoption Law: Gay Partners Can Adopt Together, Both Be On The Hook For Baby Bills
While same-sex couples can already legally adopt in New York, a bill signed into law Sunday by Gov. David Paterson allows unmarried partners to adopt together, ensuring children have access to health insurance and other benefits from both parents. Oh, and if the parents split up? The kid’s guardian can go after the other parents for child support.
Adoption laws vary state by state, but the same clause about both adoptive parents being responsible for post-separation/ divorce “child support” is typical for opposite sex couples so I see no need to differentiate same-sex couples when both parents’ names are on the paperwork.
@Skeptical Cicada: I love your screen name, and agree that NY state’s failure to allow/ recognize SSM is odious, but this is still a step forward in adoption protocol, until SSM gets approved there. We’re getting “equal responsibilities” *before* equal rights, but it’s still making it more likely for more foster k/i/d/s to get out of the system and into loving homes. That’s a good thing !
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That’s nice. Too bad the bigots and incompetents in the state senate insist that the child’s parents remain legal strangers legally banned from marriage.