Nevada Assembly Judiciary Committee Passes Multi-Parent Adoption Bill, allowing for step-parent, multiple parent adoption
Submitted by Kelsey Penrose on Fri, 03/12/2021 - 11:25am
Nevada children and the responsible adults who love and care for them are one step closer to being afforded legal rights and protections that ensure family relationships are recognized by law, helping to create stable and safe environments for children.
Today the Nevada Assembly Judiciary Committee passed Assembly Bill 115 (AB115) sponsored Nevada Assembly member and committee vice-chair Rochelle Nguyen and supported by Silver State Equality, Nevada’s statewide LGBTQ+ civil rights organization. The bill, known as Multi-Parent Adoption, allows for more than two adults to be formally and legally recognized as parents through adoption.
“Parenting looks different for every family. In Nevada, in addition to single, two-parent and stepparent households, there is a growing number of families of diverse backgrounds, that often have more than two adults who are actively engaged in parental duties and responsibilities,” said André Wade, State Director, Silver State Equality. “For example, two women in a same-gender marriage who conceive a child with the help of a male friend who also wants to fully share in the responsibilities of caring for the child may now all be legally recognized as parents through adoption. Today committee passage of AB115 puts us one step closer to affording these and other Nevada families the legal rights and protections needed to provide stability for all families.”
AB115 allows for cooperating families to petition the court to seek an adoption that results in more than two parents. It calls for all consenting parents to share in the duties of raising the child and allows for second parent adoptions to be recognized without terminating the existing parent’s rights. It does not affect current child support or who has a claim to parentage under Nevada law.
According to Assembly member Nguyen commenting on today’s committee passage, AB115 will help create uniform and consistent parenting laws throughout the state, decrease situations where only a select number of judges allow multi-parent adoptions, and decrease situations where only parents with financial means can secure multi-parent adoptions.
“Families are foundational to the stability of children, and ultimately, the health of communities,” said Nguyen. “We are very pleased with today’s results and look forward, with continued support from organizations like Silver State Equality, to this important piece of legislation advancing through the legislature to become law, putting in place important protections that create stability for children, families and our communities statewide.”
