As of January 1, 2002, AB 25 (California Domestic Partnership Bill) allows a registered domestic partner to adopt his or her partner’s child through a stepparent adoption. Although a gay or lesbian partner in California has been able to establish parental rights through adoption since 1985, previously couples were forced to go through the procedures of a traditional (independent) adoption which treats the existing parent and the adoptive parent as strangers. The independent adoption process carried a cost of at least $3,000. A social worker visited the home and conducted an FBI fingerprinting check. The adoptive parent had to obtain letters of referral and pass a thorough physical exam. Most gay and lesbian couples going through the expensive and lengthy process considered it to be intrusive into their private affairs because it showed the legal system’s refusal to recognize that they were already a family, not strangers.

AB 25 established the right of registered domestic partners to use California’s stepparent adoption procedures to create parental rights for both partners in a same-sex relationship. This procedure is much less expensive, as the cost averages $1,500, including costs of legal representation. The stepparent adoption process requires the adoptive parent to file a request with the court, which identifies, among other things, the child, the existing legal parent(s) and documents to confirm that the couple’s domestic partnership is registered in California. The existing parent(s) must provide written consent to the stepparent adoption.

After the petition comes back from the court, it is sent to the Department of Social Services. A social worker is assigned to the case and contacts the couple for an office interview. Currently, couples are waiting about six to seven months for this interview. The interview lasts for one to two hours and is an opportunity for the social worker to confirm each parent’s understanding that the adoption will create two parents of equal legal standing. The social worker also wants to make sure that neither partner is agreeing to the adoption for inappropriate reasons.

The social worker writes a short report after the interview and submits it to the court. The report contains the social worker’s approval of the adoption. The court will not finalize a stepparent adoption without an approval from the social worker. Once the court receives the report, there is no basis for the court to prevent the adoption. A hearing is scheduled for the minor child and each parent, along with any family and friends they invite. The “hearing” is actually a very short meeting between the family and judge where everyone executes the documents that will become the Adoption Order. It is one of the few occasions you will find stuffed animals in a San Diego courtroom!