Family Law Commons^™

Brief Amicus Curiae Of Ohio Psychological Association, National Association Of Social Workers And Ohio Chapter, American Academy Of Child And Adolescent Psychiatry, Ohio Human Rights Bar Association And The Lesbian/Gay Community Service Center Of Greater Cleveland In Support Of Appellants, In Re Adoption Of Jane Doe, Ohio Ninth District Case No. 19017, Susan J. Becker

Law Faculty Briefs and Court Documents

I. THE BEST INTERESTS OF CHILDREN ARE PROMOTED BY ALLOWING UNMARKED COUPLES TO BE ABLE TO PETITION TO ADOPT CHILDREN.

II. CHILDREN RAISED BY GAY AND LESBIAN PARENTS ARE AS HAPPY AND HEALTHY AS OTHER CHILDREN AND ARE NOT ADVERSELY AFFECTED BY THEIR PARENTS' SEXUAL ORIENTATION.

III. SECURING A HAPPY AND STABLE HOME LIFE FOR THE CHILD, NOT FALSE ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT LESBIAN AND GAY FAMILIES, SHOULD BE THE COURT'S DETERMINING CONSIDERATION.

Grandparent Visitation Rights In Ohio After Grandchild Adoption: Is It Time To Move In A New Direction , Genevieve Louise Adamo

Cleveland State Law Review

This note will explain why the Ohio legislature should change the current law regarding grandparent visitation following the adoption of their grandchildren. This note will first explore the way that Ohio looked at the issue of grandparent visitation following the adoption of their grandchildren prior to the Ohio Supreme Court decisions in Ridenour and Martin. Then this note will examine the decisions in Ridenour and Martin. Next this note will discuss other states' laws which allow grandparent visitation following a stepparent adoption. Finally, this note will examine some of the studies and commentaries which suggest that grandparent visitation following stepparent …

Due Process, Court Of Appeals: Chaya S. V. Frederick L.

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Protecting The Rights Of Hard To Place Children In Adoptions, Troy D. Farmer

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Two Parents Are Better Than None: Whether Two Single, African American Adults--Who Are Not In A Traditional Marriage Or A Romantic Or Sexual Relationship With Each Other--Should Be Allowed To Jointly Adopt And Co-Parent African American Children, Angela Mae Kupenda

Journal Articles

This article proposes an additional adoption model to allow joint adoption and co-parenting by single African Americans who are not in a traditional marriage relationship with each other and not in a romantic or sexual relationship with each other. Under this model, for example, two friends, two sisters, two brothers, a sister and a brother, etc., could jointly adopt and co-parent a child. If some new model such as this one is not devised, many single blacks may hesitate to take on the entire adoption responsibility alone. As a result, many black children will continue to go without any parents. …

Foreword, Katharine B. Silbaugh

Faculty Scholarship

This special section of The Boston University Public Interest Law Journal addresses the issue of transracial adoptions. Few topics within family law generate as much controversy as the placement of Black or other minority and mixed race children for adoption with white families. Although transracial placement could in theory apply to the placement of white children with mixed race and Black families, in practice it has not. The predominant practice of matching adoptive children with adoptive parents of the same race has come under increasing scrutiny in recent years as many older and difficult to place minority children wait in …

The Indian Child Welfare Act In The Face Of Extinction, Sloan Phillips

American Indian Law Review

No abstract provided.

Intercountry Adoption: A Need For Mandatory Medical Screening, Darya P. Jeffreys

Journal of Law and Health

Despite the numerous benefits of intercountry adoption, most families do not consider the possible health ramifications. Since adoptive parents are unsuspecting of ailments associated with foreign countries, a complete pediatric examination is a must after receiving the foreign adoptee. Such a pediatric examination will be effective when it is uniform and thorough, but without such an examination both parents and physicians remain in the dark about the child's health. Congress ought to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) to require a standard pediatric examination for all foreign adoptees, regardless of the country of origin, as a condition to approval …

Second-Parent Adoption: Overcoming Barriers To Lesbian Family Rights, Maxwell S. Peltz

Michigan Journal of Gender & Law

Part I of this Article will discuss some of the legal difficulties associated with co-parenting and why lesbian couples have sought second-parent adoptions. Part II will examine the particular statutory obstacles to second-parent adoptions and then analyze the various ways courts in several states have overcome these obstacles. Finally, Part III will discuss the implications of these decisions in terms of their creation of legal and social norms.

Flesh Of My Flesh But Not My Heir: Unintended Disinheritance, Laura M. Padilla

Faculty Scholarship

This article briefly explains how the laws of intestacy and adoption work together, providing background information on second parent adoptions. It then describes why these laws are inadequate for same sex partners who adopt each others' children. It is impractical to cover statutes throughout the United States, and because I seek legal reform in California, this article focuses on California statutes, with occasional reference to the Uniform Probate Code. However, the problems caused by California's statutes also arise in other states with similar statutes. Therefore, the issues raised in this article, as well as the solutions proposed, are relevant in …

Adoption Law: Congratulations For Now--Current Law, The Revised Uniform Adoption Act, And Final Adoptions, Eric C. Czerwinski

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

Children's Rights In Intercountry Adoption: Towards A New Goal, S. I. Strong

Faculty Publications

Each year, hundreds of thousands of children languish in foster or institutional care worldwide, while at the same time, thousands of adults, married and unmarried alike, are denied children because of “shortages.” How did this tragedy occur, and why does it continue to be repeated daily in countries around the world? The unfortunate truth is that many of the legal and societal norms now in place effectively prohibit needy children from finding suitable homes. While potential parents in Western countries cry out for babies of their own, millions of children live in physical and psychological poverty in underfunded orphanages around …

A Child's Right To Protection From Transfer Trauma In A Contested Adoption Case, Suellyn Scarnecchia

Articles

On August 2, 1993, I arrived at the home of Jan, Robby, and Jessica DeBoer' a few hours before the transfer. At 2:00 P.M. I would carry Jessica out of her home and deliver her to the parents who had won the case,2 her biological mother and father. This task probably would have been easier had I not spent eight days in the trial court listening to the experts explain that this transfer from one set of parents to another would harm Jessica.3 It would have been easier had I not recently obtained affidavits from other experts to persuade the …

Imagining Children's Rights, Suellyn Scarnecchia

Articles

Today, I will tell you some stories about real, live children, whose futures have been determined by our legal system. To speak of children's rights hypothetically, raises images of children suing to go live with their rich uncle or suing to demand a Nintendo system from their parents. I hope that by bringing you stories of the legal system's treatment of real children, you will have a better understanding of what I mean by children's rights and why they must be recognized. Although children's rights have been recognized in limited ways in the areas of free speech, criminal law and …

Providing Justice For Children In Disputed Adoptions: A Feminist Perspective, Meghan S. Skelton

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

No abstract provided.

'If Black Is So Special, Then Why Isn't It In The Rainbow?', Sharon E. Rush

UF Law Faculty Publications

In the modern day, defining "family" becomes less of a theoretical debate when one's own family unit is different from the traditional married, middle-class mother and father with their biological children. For non-traditional families, redefining family takes on enormous practical significance and may actually enable people to create families. Laws permitting transracial adoptions and surrogacy are illustrative. Moreover, a broader definition of family provides greater legal security to non-traditional families. Without such legal protection, non-traditional families live in fear of traditional laws tearing them apart. Rather than using a standard that promotes hegemony in custody disputes, decisionmakers should become aware …

Black Identity And Child Placement: The Best Interests Of Black And Biracial Children, Kim Forde-Mazrui

Michigan Law Review

The purpose of this Note is to question whether racial matching by courts and child-placement agencies serves the best interests of Black children. The principle that guides this Note's analysis is that racial matching is justified only if such a policy better serves the interests of Black children than a policy in which race is not a factor in a child-placement determination. This Note also questions whether racial matching serves the interests of biracial children and those of Black people as a cultural group.

Renewing The Good Intentions Of Foster Care: Enforcement Of The Adoption Assistance And Child Welfare Act Of 1980 And The Substantive Due Process Right To Safety, Cristina C.-Y. Chou

Vanderbilt Law Review

Foster care. There are probably no two words in the English language that convey more of a sense of good intentions gone bad. Children enter foster care when their own parents fail them. Then they begin a state-sponsored journey through an over- land railroad of foster homes, some run by adults who truly want to help, and others run by scoundrels.'

The purpose of foster care is to provide a temporary safe haven for children whose parents are unable to care for them. Unfortunately, however, the foster care system frequently fails to provide children with stable, secure care, and fails …

"A Lost Generation": The Battle For Private Enforcement Of The Adoption Assistance And Child Welfare Act Of 1980, Barbara L. Atwell

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This article suggests that the scope of enforceable section 1983 rights is broader than most courts have recognized. The Act creates comprehensive rights to 1) preplacement preventive services, 2) proper care while children are in state custody, and 3) permanency planning services. Courts must be more willing to recognize these rights and to take a more creative role in structuring injunctive relief when these rights have been violated. Part I is an overview of the Act. Part II analyzes the appropriateness of section 1983 claims under the Act. Finally, Part III analyzes the proper scope of section 1983 claims. The …

Surrogacy And Adoption: A Case Of Incompatibility, Barbara L. Atwell

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This Article explores the public policy doctrine relating to contracts generally and examines specific public policies set forth in state adoption statutes. The Article concludes that surrogate parenting agreements are 1) incompatible with consent provisions of state adoption statutes, 2) inconsistent with state laws prohibiting baby-selling, and 3) inconsistent with state adoption provisions that provide for a thorough investigation of the adoptive parents in order to ensure that the adoption serves the child's best interests. Accordingly, this Article suggests that as state legislatures debate the best means of addressing the issue of surrogate parenting, they should recognize that surrogate parenting …

Surrogate Parenting After Baby M: The Ball Moves To The Legislature’S Court, John R. Dunne, Gregory V. Serio

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

To Grandmother’S House We Go: Grandparent Visitation After Stepparent Adoption, Peter Zablotsky

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Relatives By Blood, Adoption, And Association: Who Should Get What And Why, Jan E. Rein

Vanderbilt Law Review

This Article explores the questions that courts and legislatures must address in order to integrate the social phenomenon of adoption into our succession laws, monitors the progress that has and has not been made in dealing with these questions, and proposes a comprehensive approach to the treatment of adoptees in matters of succession. Specifically, part I introduces the traditional approach to relationship by adoption, while part HI compares the past and present goals of adoption. Part IV discusses the legal status of adoptees in the context of intestate succession. This discussion explores past and present trends and examines the special …

The Adoptee's Right To Know: In Re Adoption Of A Female Infant, Zvi Greismann

Antioch Law Journal

Among the most difficult questions arising out of an adoption is whether a record should be reopened at the request of an adult adoptee seeking information about his or her biological parents. In most jurisdictions an adoptee seeking this information must obtain a court order.'Adoption proceedings are statutory and, therefore, proceedings to unseal records are governed by state adoption laws. However,existing statutory standards are vague. Ultimately the decision to grant or deny access is a discretionary one lying with the courts.Further, in exercising their discretion, courts are faced with the difficult problem of resolving potentially conflicting interests of the adoptee, …

The State's Interest In Adoption And Washington's Sealed Records Statute, Eileen M. Lawrence

Seattle University Law Review

After discussing the legal effect of the adoption decree and the purpose of Washington's adoption statute, this comment will analyze the competing interests of the adoptee, the biological parents, the adoptive parents, and the state. This article will also discuss the legislative proposal in Washington attempting to abolish the good cause requirement. Finally, this article concludes the sealed records requirement is constitutionally sound and despite the need for further legislative articulation, the good cause balancing approach is the most suitable method for protecting the conflicting rights and interests inherent in the adoption process.

Unwed Fathers And The Adoption Process, Robert Rausch

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Constitutional Law - Fourteenth Amendment - Equal Protection Clause - Adoption - Rights Of Putative Fathers, Ronald J. Rademacher

Duquesne Law Review

The United States Supreme Court has held that a New York statute providing that a natural mother could withhold her consent to the adoption of her child, but denying the same right to an unwed father, violates the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment.

Caban v. Mohammed, 99 S. Ct. 1760 (1979).

Independent Adoptions: Is The Black And White Beginning To Appear In The Controversy Over Gray-Market Adoptions, George William Myers Jr.

Duquesne Law Review

No abstract provided.

An Analysis Of The Unwed Father's Adoption Rights In Light Of Caban V. Mohammed: A Foundation In Federal Law For A Necessary Redrafting Of The Pennsylvania Adoption Act, Richard Gutekunst

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

Adoption: A Plea For Realistic Constitutional Decisionmaking, Larry I. Palmer

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.