How can a non-biological mother establish her parental rights?
“Under California’s current domestic partner law (AB 25), if a child is born into a domestic partnership, the non-biological mom can establish parental rights through the stepparent adoption process, which involves a home study and legal fees. AB 205 significantly expands domestic partner rights and duties. After January 1, 2005, same-sex domestic partners who have a baby conceived by a ‘medically supervised’ sperm donation (i.e., through a sperm bank) will not have to go through an adoption process. Both partners will be legal parents from the time of their child’s birth, and both their names should be able to go on the child’s birth certificate. We currently anticipate that parents will need to complete a simple form asking for a court order confirming that both are legal parents. However, parents may want to continue performing stepparent adoptions in order to best protect the legal status of their families.” What else can we do to protect our family? “The National Center for Lesbia