State Laws and Legislation

Louisiana Adoption Law

Permits single LGBT individuals to petition to adopt? Yes.
Louisiana law permits a single person or a married couple jointly to petition to adopt. (LA. CHILD. CODE ANN. art.1198)

Permits a same-sex couple to jointly petition to adopt? No explicit prohibition.
State law provides that a husband and wife may jointly petition to adopt, and does not explicitly provide for joint adoption by other couples. No state court has heard the issue of whether same-sex couples can or can not jointly petition to adopt.

Note: In a recent case before the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the Louisiana Attorney General argued that the state's Department of Vital Statistics cannot be forced to provide a birth certificate listing two men as the parents of a Louisiana-born child adopted by a gay couple in New York. The state legislature reaffirmed the Attorney General

Updated: Wed, December 09, 2009 - 1:00:06