Marriage between persons of the same sex and extending parentage rights to married couples of the same sex. (FE)

Same-sex parents In addition to making statutory references to spouses gender neutral, the bill specifies ways in which married couples of the same sex may be the legal parents of a child and, with some exceptions, makes current references in the statutes to “mother" and “father," and related terms, gender neutral.

Under current law, all of the following may adopt a child: a husband and wife jointly, a husband or wife whose spouse is the parent of the child, and an unmarried adult. Because the bill makes references in the statutes to spouses gender neutral, same-sex spouses jointly may adopt a child and become the legal parents of the child, and a same-sex spouse of a person who is the parent of a minor child may adopt the child and become the legal parent of his or her spouse's child.

Under current law, if a woman is artificially inseminated under the supervision of a physician with semen donated by a man who is not her husband and the husband consents in writing to the artificial insemination of his wife, the husband is the natural father of any child conceived. Under this bill, a same-sex spouse may also consent to the artificial insemination of her spouse with donated semen and is the natural parent of the child conceived. The artificial insemination is not required to take place under the supervision of a physician, but, if it does not, the semen used for the insemination must have been obtained from a sperm bank.

Under current law, there is a paternity presumption whereby a man is presumed to be the father of a child if he and the child's natural mother 1) were married to each other when the child was conceived or born or 2) married each other after the child was born but had a relationship with each other when the child was conceived and no other man has been adjudicated to be the father or is presumed to be the father because the man was married to the mother when the child was conceived or born. The paternity presumption may be rebutted in a legal action or proceeding by the results of a genetic test showing that the statistical probability of another man's parentage is 99.0 percent or higher. The bill expands this presumption into a parentage presumption, so that a person is presumed to be the natural parent of a child if he or she 1) was married to the child's mother when the child was conceived or born or 2) married the child's mother after the child was born but had a relationship with the mother when the child was conceived and no man has been adjudicated to be the father and no other person is presumed to be the child's parent because he or she was married to the mother when the child was conceived or born. The parentage presumption may still be rebutted by the results of a genetic test showing that the statistical probability of another person's parentage is 99.0 percent or higher.

The bill does not change the paternity statutes or the statutes relating to statements acknowledging paternity or declarations of paternal interest with respect to their application only to a male who may be adjudicated to be the father of a child or who may sign a statement or declaration that he is the father of a child.

Expanding on current law, however, the bill allows for a paternity action to be brought for the purpose of rebutting the parentage presumption, regardless of whether that presumption applies to a male or female spouse of the mother of the child.

The bill defines “natural parent" as a parent of a child who is not an adoptive parent, whether the parent is biologically related to the child or not. Thus, a person who is a biological parent, a parent by consenting to the artificial insemination of his or her spouse, or a parent under the parentage presumption is a natural parent of a child. The definition applies throughout the statutes wherever the term “natural parent" is used. In addition, the bill expands some references in the statutes to “biological parent" by changing the reference to “natural parent."

Birth certificates Generally, the bill substitutes the term “spouse" for “husband" in the birth certificate statutes and enters the spouse, instead of the husband, of a birth mother on the birth certificate at times when a husband would currently be entered on a birth certificate. A birth mother's name is entered on a birth certificate when she gives birth to a child and current law specifies when the husband, father, or no additional name should be entered on the birth certificate. Current law requires that if a birth mother is married at any time from the conception to the birth of a child, then her husband's name is entered on the birth certificate as the legal father of the child. Under the bill, if a birth mother is married at any time from the conception to the birth of the child, then her spouse's name is entered as a legal parent of the child. The bill also specifies that, in the instance that a second parent's name is initially omitted from the birth certificate, if the state registrar receives a signed acknowledgement of parentage by people presumed to be parents because the two people married after the birth of the child, the two people had a relationship during the time the child was conceived, no man is adjudicated to be the father, and no other person is presumed to be the parent, then the state registrar must enter the name of the birth mother's spouse as a parent on the birth certificate.

This bill will be referred to the joint survey committee on tax exemptions for a detailed analysis, which will be printed as an appendix to this bill.