Second parent adoption advocates see obstacles

Advocates for second parent adoption want to pass legislation legalizing that practice in Michigan, but face likely opposition not only from the religious right but from the new head of the agency that oversees adoptions in the state.

State Rep. Jeff Irwin (D-Ann Arbor) and State Sen. Rebekah Warren (D-Ann Arbor) announced Monday that they would introduce legislation to legalize second parent adoption. This legal arrangement allows one adult to co-adopt a child with another adult, including one person adopting the child of another family member or unmarried heterosexual couples or same-sex couples adopting a child together.

The finalization of the adoption allows two adults to share the responsibilities of parenting such as taking the child to appointments, authorizing emergency medical care and other parental responsibilities most couples don’t think twice about.

The proposal has been introduced in the state legislature for years, but it has always been blocked by conservatives who argue that legalizing second parent adoption would be unhealthy for the children, particularly in a situation where the two parents are gay or lesbian.

But this year’s legislation faces another potential stumbling block. Department of Human Services Director Maura Corrigan, when she was a Michigan Supreme Court justice in 2002, put pressure on Washtenaw County Circuit Court officials to cease approving second parent adoptions. At the time, Washtenaw was the only county in the state authorizing such adoptions. Chief Circuit Judge Archie Brown agreed with Corrigan and transferred all adoption cases to his own caseload in order to stop two other judges from continuing the practice.

With Corrigan at the helm at DHS, which is the agency which oversees the state’s foster care system as well as adoptions, activists in support of the legislation are worried she might block implementation of the legislation if it were signed into law.

“We hope that Maura Corrigan, in her duty as head of DHS, is considering the best interests of all children, including children who have gay parents,” says Jay Kaplan, staff attorney for the ACLU of Michigan Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Project. “We had serious concerns regarding the propriety of her intervention … regarding second parent adoptions in Washtenaw County. Any efforts by the DHS to deny children of LGBT parents the same right to legal protection of two parents through adoption would be of concern and interest to the ACLU.”

A DHS spokesperson said concerns about Corrigan’s past actions on second parent adoption are premature.

“We’ve not had opportunity to review the proposed legislation, so we can’t comment at this time. What I can tell you is that we will work with our legislative partners to ensure children have safe, loving and stable homes,” said Gisgie Dávila Gendreau, marketing and public relations director at DHS.

“Child advocates consistently agree that it is not the institution of marriage itself that allows for a strong, supported, and well-adjusted child – it is the support of two loving parents,” says Emily Dievendorf, policy director for Equality Michigan, a statewide political group advocating for LGBT equality. “Unfortunately, in any given year there are 6,000 children in foster care, less than half of which are adopted. Without establishing more equitable parental rights in our state, Michigan will continue to foot the bill for the basic care of thousands of foster children who could be placed in loving, stable households. Michigan is also paying for the health care of countless other children who already have the guidance of two parental figures but live in households in which the parent with health benefits is currently denied equal rights to the child.”

“The way our current adoption law is being interpreted by some Michigan judges (limiting joint adoptions to marriages) when the language of Michigan’s current adoption statute doesn’t contain this specific limitation, lets kids down,” says Kaplan.

But before it even gets to the DHS it first has to pass the state legislature. And the bill had a difficult time getting even a vote when the Democrats held the House during the last session.

“I worry that even under the Democratic leadership that second parent adoption got stalled. It seems our leadership ignores what is in the best interest of the child,” says Penny Gardner, the president of the Lansing Association for Human Rights who spent the better part of the last decade lobbying the legislature for second parent adoption rights. “This proposal saves the state money by allowing children the benefit of two legal parents, but it has consistently been ignored to save the seats of lawmakers. Listening to a minority of people who don’t care about protecting kids’ relationships with her/his parents, and only care about the gender of the parents and their relationship with each other is not good for the children or the state.”

“It would appear to be more challenging given the change in the legislature, but what this bill is really about is making sure that children have the legal protections of two parents. The best interests of the child should be a the controlling factor in deciding whether or not to grant and adoption, not the marital status of the two parties who wish to adopt,” says Kaplan. “Making it clear that the focus should be on the children is what this legislation is all about. Not only would this law apply to gay parents who wish to jointly adopt their children, but also to situations involving family members (Grandma and Uncle) who wish to jointly adopt their child relatives in order to provide them with the legal protections of two parents. We believe that the rationale behind this legislation — protecting children — is neither Democratic nor Republican and hopefully Michigan’s legislature will do the right thing.”