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Adopting children is no easy task. In addition to the mountain of paperwork which must be completed there are extensive background checks, home studies and a slew of other procedures to ensure the health and safety of the most vulnerable members of our society. With that in mind, it should come as little surprise that same-sex couples often feel as though they will experience an even tougher than usual road to becoming parents in modern Arizona.
A recent case here in Arizona shows that views toward same-sex couples involved in domestic partnerships are changing. It all began eight years ago when a cohabitating couple of two men living in a 3,000 square-foot house felt as though they wanted to share their space. Both men had grown up in families with more than a dozen members each so they reached out to several agencies to see about adoption. That’s when they ran across a caseworker at Aid to the Adoption of Special Kids in Phoenix. The case worker says that she found the two men to be a good fit for adoption and says that they were a pleasure to work with.
The couple says that they never set out to adopt 12 children, yet that is precisely what happened when their first child told them that he had siblings that were still in the foster care system and that he missed them a lot. The couple now has 10 children from Arizona plus two more from Washington State.
Adopting a child into a domestic partnership is a very complicated process. For example, where should one begin? Is it better to go through a private adoption service or a state agency? That is just one reason why same-sex couples looking to adopt should really consider getting some legal assistance first. An expert in family law matters will know best how to safeguard the adoptive parent’s right should the biological parents challenge the child’s placement.
Source: The New Civil Rights Movement, “We Are Family: Two Dads Adopt Twelve Kids” Jean Ann Esselink, Apr. 17, 2014
