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theHandpuppet

(19,964 posts)
Tue Jun 3, 2014, 11:15 PM Jun 2014

D.C. adoption law draws lesbians from Va., other states to give birth here

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-adoption-law-draws-lesbians-from-other-states-to-give-birth-here/2014/05/22/2f107354-df6b-11e3-9743-bb9b59cde7b9_story.html
The Washington Post
D.C. adoption law draws lesbians from Va., other states to give birth here

Twin daughters were born last week to Desiree Bryan and her wife, Stephanie, but the path they’ve chosen to motherhood is not yet complete.

The lesbian couple live in Midlothian, Va., near Richmond. The commonwealth does not recognize either their 2010 marriage in the District or Stephanie’s parentage of the girls, who grew from her fertilized eggs implanted in and carried by Desiree. So the Bryans delivered their girls in the District. It was a two-hour drive from home, friends and family, but it’s a place that offers the surest way for Lily Mae and Mia Lynn to have two mothers in the eyes of the law.

Within a few months, they will return so Stephanie can adopt her biological twins, giving her parental rights that are equal to Desiree’s. This can happen under a recent law letting courts grant adoptions to out-of-state lesbian couples if their child was born in the District. And court rulings are universally enforced across borders, even in states with the least gay-friendly laws.

About half of the states, including Maryland, allow these adoptions by a second, same-sex parent who otherwise would not be considered a legal parent. In Virginia, children can be adopted by an individual or a married couple, effectively excluding gay couples, since the state does not recognize same-sex marriages. The District is one of a handful of jurisdictions that permit second-parent adoptions with no residency rules or other restrictions....

MORE at link posted above.
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D.C. adoption law draws lesbians from Va., other states to give birth here (Original Post) theHandpuppet Jun 2014 OP
Wow! shenmue Jun 2014 #1
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