A day we hoped would come, FINALLY came. On October 6, 2014 with the U.S. Supreme Court’s denial of certiorari, same sex couples could marry. I, along with many others, made a bee line to the court house that day to witness friends tie the knot and to witness history. It was a great day. Now that the initial joy and shock are over, couples are asking “What about the kids?”
In the past, it has been a mixed bag of tricks that same sex couples utilized to gain some semblance of family in the community. From a legal standpoint, it was like hitting a moving target. Dealing with education issues, medical care and even family interactions required drafting documents that traditional couples never had to even think about. According to my reading of the Virginia Code, those days are over.
If your spouse has a child, natural or adopted, you are now eligible to adopt as a step parent. If you and your spouse wish to pursue an international adoption, when you return with your child to the states, both of you can readopt as a married couple. If you wish to pursue an interstate, parental placement or agency placement adoption, they can all be accomplished the same as a traditional married couple.
Tucker Griffin Barnes congratulates all those couples that have tied the knot, urges them to dump the “bag of tricks” we previously drafted and welcomes them back to pursue traditional adoptions! Yeah!!
