A California state bill would allow courts to legally declare a child has more than two parents.
While gay marriage is in limbo in California, unconventional families in the nation’s most populous state have an ally in State Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco).
A bill introduced by Leno—SB1476—would allow courts to legally declare a child has more than two parents. The bill would apply equally to men and women and heterosexual and homosexual relationships. The bill has already passed the Senate and is moving through the Assembly.
“The bill brings California into the 21st century, recognizing that there are more than ‘Ozzie and Harriet’ families today,” Leno told the Sacramento Bee. Leno said he realized there was a problem when, in 2011, a court placed a girl in foster care when her two legally married parents, a lesbian couple, could no longer care for her. The girl was taken into state custody when her biological mother was incarcerated and her non-biological mother was hospitalized.
The girl had a relationship with her biological father, but the court was unable to grant him custody, even though the child would have clearly been better off with him.
“We are not touching the definition of a parent under the current law,” said Leno. “When a judge recognizes that a child is likely to find his or her way into foster care and if there is an existing parent who qualifies as a legal parent, why not have the law when it is required to protect the well-being of the child?”
SB1476 would give courts the authority to protect the relationships a child may have with more than two parents. Under current law, a parent can be a man who signs an acknowledgement of paternity, or who took a baby into his home and represented the child as his own. The proposed bill would expand the number of situations a parent could qualify.
In addition to GLBT families, this bill would also protect non-biological step-parents, adoptive families where the child knows the biological parent, and other unconventional family dynamics. The bill does not force judges to recognize additional parents; it merely allows them to discretion to acknowledge more than two parents when deemed appropriate. The parents would still have to legally qualify.
For GLBT families, this law could make the difference between a child going into state care or not. It likely would have prevented what happened in 2011 to inspire Leno in the first place. For poly families, a bill like SB1476 would provide some protection to the non-biological parents. My own family is an excellent example. Among the four of us, the married couple are both female. I’m the biological father of our first child. His two mothers are on his birth certificate. The non-biological father is the primary earner of our household. A law like this in our home state would give all of us a little more protection.
What do Good Men Project readers think? Is this bill a good idea? Do you agree with Leno or not? Will SB1476 protect unconventional families or is it part of the “slippery slope” as Rush Limbaugh recently argued on air?
—Photo of group of adorable toddlers courtesy of Shutterstock
How about we recognize fathers as equal parents with default joint physical custody before we go adding third and fourth parents into the legal mix?
I guess it would depend on the circumstances that a third party could be declared a “legal” parent.
For example, I don’t think I’d look too kindly on an (hypothetical) ex-wife’s new husband being given parental authority over my kids that was equal to my own.
Hmmm… In this case dealing with a near bankrupt state, I would follow the money to see where that leads.
Marriage is kind of besides the point here. This is criteria to decide responsibility for a child. Does that entail more rights (as in custody) or more responsibilities (as in monetary support) or is it a balance of both like the law is supposed to be and it not.
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As long as they have one of each, as I have said here before.
Mothers and fathers each have unique value. One is not superior to nor a replacement for the other. Hence, each child should have at least one of each, to benefit from that unique experience.
Want to add a second, third, or fourth mother and/or father? Fine. Just make sure they have one of each.
Doesn’t Calfornia also allow a parent to be named without their consent and once a certain time period passes that person (usually a man) is now a legal parent with all the responsibilities that holds. I wouldn’t jump too quickly over this, it is more than likely just a fast way to get someone else to pay for a child so the state doesn’t have to.
Oh my goodness, finally! Sometimes California can do such stupid things (hello Prop 8) and sometimes they lead the way in progressive laws, like this. I think this is good…really good. From your article, it looks like because it’s not a requirement for judges to recognize more than two parents it could be a problem. If you get a bigoted judge s/he might just refuse to recognize anyone but the two declared parents. On the other hand, if you made it a requirement it could get hairy. Custody battles between three or more parents could just get insane. So yeah,… Read more »