Louisiana Same-Sex Adoption Case

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Louisiana Same-Sex Adoption Case

Special Report - October 11, 2010
The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has granted a rehearing en banc in the recently decided Louisiana case regarding the constitutionality of a state law prohibiting same-sex adoptions. A three-judge panel of the Court ruled unanimously in January that the full faith and credit clause of the U.S. Constitution requires Louisiana to recognize an adoption by a homosexual couple in New York by issuing a revised birth certificate listing two fathers for a Louisiana child the men adopted together. Louisiana only allows married couples or single individuals to adopt children and to have their name listed on revised birth certificates. Louisiana does not recognize same-sex “marriage,” thereby preventing the New York men from having both of their names listed on the child’s revised birth certificate. The homosexual couple argued that the full faith and credit clause requires Louisiana to recognize the adoption as processed in New York, which does allow same-sex couples to adopt. The case will now be considered by all 16 judges who sit on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Lead state attorney Kyle Duncan opted to ask the Circuit Court for a rehearing rather than immediately appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In September, the North Carolina State Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a similar landmark case related to same-sex adoption in the state. The case involves a biological mother who is challenging her former same-sex partner’s adoption of her child. The case could determine the whether adoption by same-sex partners is legal in North Carolina, which does not recognize same-sex “marriage,” but does allow single persons or a step-parent, as well as married heterosexual couples to adopt. You can read more about the case and the North Carolina Family Policy Council’s amicus brief in the case here.

Related article:
Supreme Court Hears Same-Sex Adoption Case - September 9, 2010