Yesterday, the New York State Assembly passed A.2001, sponsored by Assemblymember Amy Paulin (D-88). The bill codifies the longstanding practice of granting petitions to adopt even where the parentage of the petitioner is already legally recognized by New York State law.

Under existing New York law, judges already have the ability to grant an adoption of a child by a petitioner whose parentage is already legally-recognized. This situation most often applies to same-sex couples, who are particularly vulnerable to legal confusion around both parents’ rights, particularly when they are travelling to places where the rights of the non-biological parent are not as respected. A New York adoption would be honored in other jurisdictions.

“These adoption petitions may seem redundant to a casual observer, but they are critical tools to avoid stressful uncertainty for same-sex couples,” said Assemblymember Amy Paulin. “The routine, common-sense solution has been for judges to grant adoption petitions by the non-biological parent, even when the petitioner’s parentage is already legally-recognized. That way, either through the legal marriage or the legal adoption, the parents’ rights must be recognized in other jurisdictions.”

Despite the fact that judges already have the ability to grant these petitions and routinely have done so, a Surrogacy’s Court in Brooklyn recently denied such a petition on the basis that both parents were already legally recognized by virtue of their marriage. This bill will codify what has been the routine practice of judges already, and guarantee that couples' access to such adoptions could not be fettered by future court decisions.

Andrew Lanza (R-24) is sponsoring the bill in the Senate.