There are several permutations to adoption:  a GLBT parent may have had children as a result of a heterosexual union, which may or may not have been in the context of marriage.  A GLBT parent may have adopted a child as a single parent.  A GLBT couple may choose to bring about a pregnancy using alternative insemination, in vitro fertilization using a partner’s egg or sperm or donor eggs and sperm, using a gestational carrier.  In any of these situations, only one of the same-sex couple is the legal parent of the child; and in the case of both a donated sperm and egg, neither of the intended parents is a legal parent.. 

Eight states and the District of Columbia have approved second-parent adoption for lesbian and gay parents either by statute or state appellate court rulings, which means that it is granted in all counties statewide.  California allows same-sex couples to apply for step-parent adoption as a result of its domestic partner legislation.  Lesbian and gay parents also have been granted second-parent adoptions in 18 other states at the trial court level, which means that they have been approved in certain counties only.   

I represented the lesbian couple in the first second-parent adoption in Minnesota in Hennepin County in April, 1991.  Since then, second-parent adoptions have been completed in Anoka, Blue Earth, Brown, Carver, Chisago, Dakota, Olmsted, Ramsey, St. Louis, Scott, Stearns  Waseca, Washington and Wright Counties.  Agency placements, particularly by county social services, are often with the same-sex couple, eliminating the need for first a single parent, and then a second-parent adoption.  In such cases the parties complete a co-parent adoption.

Procedurally, Minnesota courts have treated second-parent adoptions as analogous to step-parent adoptions.  However, because second-parent adoptions are not specific exceptions to the placement requirement, it is necessary to obtain an ex parte order permitting the filing of the petition.  In most cases, the court is willing to waive an adoption investigation or home study.   However, each county has its own procedural particularities.  It is also good practice to obtain Affidavits from family members of the couple which speak to the quality of their relationship, dispute resolution, parenting skills, and the extended families’ support for the adoption. 

It is probably wisest not to attempt a co-parent adoption without consulting with an attorney who has done many second-parent adoptions.  Failure to complete all procedural steps may leave the adoption subject to vacation should the partner’s separate.

These adoptions do not confer legal recognition of the parties’ relationship.  Rather, the effect of the adoption provides the child with access to social security benefits in the event of the adoptive parent’s death or disability, health insurance coverage, rights of intestate inheritance, the right to sue for wrongful death and the right to child support.