Rhode Island Must Make Confirmatory Adoption Accessible for LGBTQ Families a More Respectful Step
Rhode Island lawmakers are looking at a bill that would provide essential protections to families as threats to LGBTQ+ persons increase across the country.
March 31, 2023 (PROVIDENCE) — Yesterday, testimony was heard by the Rhode Island Senate Judiciary Committee in support of S 0121A bill to streamline confirmatory adoption procedures and make it easier for LGBTQ+ parents to provide security for their children through adoption. H 5226 was heard earlier in the month by the House Judiciary Committee.
The Uniform Parentage Act of 2020 in Rhode Island provides clear avenues for LGBTQ+ parents. However, confirmatory adoptive adoption is an important option for LGBTQ+ families or other families who wish to confirm their parentage by way of an adoption decree. An adoption decree, a court ruling that recognizes parentage across all states, is a legal judgment.
Threats to marriage equality raised in last June’s U.S. Supreme Court Dobbs ruling combined with escalating anti-LGBTQ+ bills and state court rulings around the country have increased the urgency of updating Rhode Island’s confirmatory adoption process to ensure LGBTQ+ families have access to all options for securing their child-parent relationships.
“Language in the Dobbs Fear for LGBTQ+ families was sparked by a ruling encouraging efforts to abolish marriage equality. Nearly 500 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been introduced in different states since June. S 0121 is an opportunity for Rhode Island to show we are an inclusive state that cares about equality and security for our LGBTQ+ community and families.” Senator Dawn Euer is the Senate’s lead sponsor. “Passing this bill will make it accessible for more Rhode Island parents to secure a confirmatory adoption. It is more important than ever for LGBTQ+ families to have access to the legal protections they want and need for their families.”
For parents seeking an adoption to confirm, rather than to establish, their parentage, S 0121 eliminates unnecessary requirements that aren’t appropriate for people who are already parents to their children and provides a streamlined path for such parents to petition a court for an adoption decree. The current law makes it difficult for LGBTQ+ parents to adopt their children. This can mean that they must undergo an extensive home study or investigation, as well as a minimum amount of residence in the home and an in-person court hearing. Children and their families are left vulnerable as these extra steps can cause delays or render adoption impossible.
Language at the Supreme Court Dobbs ruling in June suggested that the Court reconsider the matter Obergefell Future marriage equality rulings have created concern for LGBTQ+ people, putting their marriages and families at risk. In recent court decisions in Texas, Oklahoma, Texas, and Pennsylvania, courts have separated children from their non-birth parents. This was based on outdated laws or the inability to apply the marital presumption. Adoption decrees provide security for children.
“Rhode Island has been a leader on transgender, gay, lesbian, and bisexual equality for decades and led on protections for LGBTQ+ families with the 2020 Uniform Parentage Act. The state can now lead again with the increasing extremist attacks against LGBTQ+ people taking place across the country. said Polly Crozier, Director of Family Advocacy at GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders. “Parents are more worried than ever about the safety of their children. S 0121 is one urgent and important way for Rhode Island to signal support for LGBTQ+ people, by removing barriers to adoption for LGBTQ+ people who seek to confirm their parentage and secure their children through an adoption decree wherever they travel or move outside Rhode Island.”
“I’m so proud of the work we did in 2020 to pass the Rhode Island Uniform Parentage Act which created paths for LGBTQ+ parents to secure their legal ties to their children under Rhode Island law,“ Representative Rebecca Kislak is the lead sponsor of this House bill. “I’m hearing from terrified Rhode Island parents who are looking at what is happening around the country with anti-LGBTQ+ legislation targeting young people and court rulings ripping children away from parents who planned for, raised, and love them. Now we need to take this next step to make sure every parent and child can have the security of adoption so they can feel secure if they happen to move or even just visit family in states like Florida or Oklahoma that don’t have the protections we have here.”
Advocates and parents submitted testimony to support the Senate and House bills.
Beth Cronin, MD, Parent and Obstetrician/Gynecologist at a community health center:
“The 2022 Dobbs There has been real fear among the LGBTQ+ community due to rulings. One reason is the safety of our marriages, and our families. When traveling across the country, it is crucial to have access to adoption to protect our families. A home study conducted by a social worker, which involves us being interviewed to assess our ability to parent the children we have hoped for and prayed for, is invasive, discouraging, and unfair. To be forced to alert the sperm donor, who willingly and anonymously donated…without any intentions or expectations of parenting the child, via a newspaper posting that the adoption is planned, and then jump through additional hoops of court hearings will not only add cost, but will cost us emotional energy…This adoption process is expensive and most members of the LGBTQ+ community are spending several thousand dollars on legal fees. This is a cruel process and can be made much more humane and efficient if we enact this new legislation.”
Jordan Budd, Executive director of COLAGE (a support and advocacy group for children with LGBTQ+ parents),:
“All children, no matter who their parents happen to be, deserve to feel safe and secure in their families. People with LGBTQ+ parents face particular vulnerability right now. There are numerous attacks on LGBTQ+ people and their families that make headlines every day. Rhode Island LGBTQ+ families should not have to worry about crossing state lines for fear of their legal relationships coming into question.”
Kate Weldon LeBlanc is the Executive Director at Resolve New England
“S 0121 would eliminate unnecessary requirements and provide a streamlined path to petition a court for an adoption decree. It is unfair that non-birthing parent must adopt their children through a lengthy, expensive and complicated process. Also, the delay in confirming parentage leaves the children vulnerable.”
Courtney G. Joslin is a parentage law expert and U.C. Davis Martin Luther King Jr. Professor of law
“[E]Families may be subject to discrimination when they travel across the country, even if they are protected by Rhode Island law. Parties, including state officials, may argue and in some cases have argued that another state should not recognize a parent-child relationship involving a Rhode Island resident even where that relationship is recognized and protected as a matter of Rhode Island law.”
Shelbi Day, Chief Policy Officer at Family Equality
“Currently, under Rhode Island law, parents must go through the traditional adoption process to obtain a court order confirming their legal relationship to their child even where Rhode Island law already recognizes them as parents. Doing so can be unduly burdensome, create economic hardship, and cause delay as it requires an invasive home study or investigation, a minimum period of residency in the home, and an in-person court hearing.”
Senators Murray and Mack introduced S 0121.
Representatives Kislak and Shekarchi introduced H 5226.
The bill’s fact sheet contains additional information. www.glad.org
