Legislative News: RI Uniform Parentage Act

Justice for Rhode Island’s Children and Families!

Thanks to a coalition of Rhode Island parents, supported by organizations Rhode Islanders for Parentage Equality (RIPE) and GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, progress has been made for all families! The Rhode Island Uniform Parentage Act (RIUPA) has officially been signed into law by Governor Gina Raimondo on July 21, 2020. This pivotal law will update Rhode Island’s parentage laws for the first time since 1979 to ensure equity and legal protection for all families, including LGBTQ families through a parent-child relationship.

This bill provides clarity on how to establish parentage for children born through assisted reproduction, surrogacy, and to same-sex parents who aren’t married. This relationship is critical in a child’s life. The support and stability that comes from a legally secure parent-child relationship provides the foundation of a child’s well-being. In Rhode Island, every child hasn’t had equal access to establishing this core legal relationship. Currently, children are not treated equally, with some having to wait six months or longer to establish their parent-child relationship. The RIPA updates Rhode Island law to be constitutional while protecting all children, regardless of the circumstances of their birth. 

Families have had to overcome numerous barriers in order to be legally recognized as their child’s co-parent. Co-parent adoption or second parent adoption is the legal process of adopting a partner or spouse’s biological or legal child. This may be the case if the parents used donated sperm or eggs to create their family, or if one partner had children prior to the relationship, either through adoption or biological means. If a co-parent is on a state birth certificate due to marriage, but hasn’t legally adopted their child, the co-parent might not be treated as a legal parent outside of the state where the child was born. This may be critical in certain situations, such as when a child needs emergency health care.

Less than 20 states currently allow co-parent adoptions for same-gender parents. The process also varies widely across states. In Massachusetts for example, the paperwork is simple enough that parents can file it themselves. In Rhode Island, a family lawyer has needed to file the paperwork, and the non gestational parent would complete many steps (including submitting taxes, a physical exam, fingerprinting for a criminal background check, visit from a social worker to the family’s home, and an advertisement posted in a newspaper to find the donor).

It’s incredible that this bill is finally being updated after 40 years! It’s also affirming that Rhode Island families no longer have to jump through so many hoops to be legally recognized as a parent, ultimately impacting the child’s well being and sense of security for years to come.