Parenting Advance in DC
July 27, 2009
The District of Columbia recently made news when a new law providing equal recognition for marriages by same-sex couples from outside D.C. went into effect. While same-sex couples still can’t marry in the District itself, they can enter into domestic partnerships, and D.C. has taken a step to provide important new rights to couples in those partnerships. When a woman in a DP gives birth to a child, her partner will now be listed as a legal parent on the birth certificate. In the past, domestic partners had to go through costly adoption proceedings when one parent (domestic partnerships in D.C. are available to both same-sex and different-sex couples) gave birth. The new law is another step forward in recognizing same-sex relationships and ensures that children born to domestic partners will have two parents who are legally responsible for their well-being.
