At every adoption hearing in Travis County, a child chooses from an assortment of stuffed animals in the courtroom to commemorate their adoption day. One of the best parts of these hearings is seeing the child’s (or parents of babies) faces light up as they pick out the perfect stuffed animal to celebrate one of...Read More
Greetings and Best Wishes for 2019. In the thirty years that I have been practicing LGBT family law, I have seen so many changes, mostly positive. Last year was full of progress – and challenges. Here are a few highlights. CHALLENGES Today, the biggest legal, and cultural, threat to our families is the balancing of...Read More
Dear Friends and Clients, Immediately after Trump became President, I had many inquiries about the future of LGBTQ rights. Now that a conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court is inevitable, I am again being asked what it all means – and what we can do to protect ourselves. Nobody has a crystal ball to...Read More
The backlash is real! Read this article about a GLAAD survey and do everything you can to protect your relationship and your family. “Compared to last year’s survey, significantly more respondents said they would be uncomfortable with a family member, a child’s teacher, or their doctor who was LGBTQ.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/posteverything/wp/2018/02/05/i-thought-gay-rights-were-safe-now-i-know-i-was-wrong/?utm_term=.abf325a0d3d3&wpisrc=nl_most&wpmm=1Read More
Two contacts this week reminded me why I am passionate about my work to create stable families with two legal parents. First, I received a call from a couple that was adopting though CPS and was refused by the judge just two hours before the adoption hearing – solely because they were a lesbian couple. ...Read More
The attorney mentioned in this article, Michelle Zavos, has been my friend and colleague for 30 years. We both wish our clients’ families were secure without second-parent adoptions – and someday they will be – just not yet. Please read, and listen, to the NPR piece. http://www.npr.org/2017/09/22/551814731/same-sex-spouses-turn-to-adoption-to-protect-parental-rights “One thing happening around the country that...Read More
Just because the Texas legislature is discouraging LGBT folks from adopting, don’t be discouraged. My office has a referral list of agencies that would LOVE to work with LGBT adoptive parents. Just ask. I am proud to have worked with Curry on this Fact Sheet/FAQs and encourage everyone to support the wonderful...Read More
The 2017 Texas Law, HB 3859, which allows broad discrimination by adoption agencies will undoubtedly harm the thousands of children who have already been abused or neglected by their birth parents and desperately need loving homes. The law allows agencies to discriminate because of any “sincerely held religious belief.” Private adoption agencies can already set...Read More
Today’s New York Times article explains why second-parent adoptions are still highly recommended for LGBTQ families. I’ve highlighted a few important points below, but the entire article is a must read: “You can be completely respected and protected as a family in one state and be a complete legal stranger to your children in another....Read More
While it feels really great for a birth mother’s wife to be listed on a Texas birth certificate, the Wren case (Beaumont court of Appeals, 2017) clearly shows why lesbian couples cannot rely on a birth certificate alone to establish parentage for the second mother. Two women, CW and AE, were married in Connecticut in...Read More
