Legal adoption for gay parents

Songwriter and producer Desmond Child talks about the difficulties he and his partner had in ensuring they were both legal parents of their children
Advice for Gay Parents | Legal issues with gay adoption
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Legal adoption for gay parents

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Our children were born in Florida, and at that time the co-parent wasn't allowed to adopt or become a legal parent to the child you were having. Only the biological parent was allowed to actually be on the birth certificate. So we had to move to California for a few years in order to have him become a legal parent. I suggest having your child in a state like California where a child will have the name of both parents, regardless of gender, on the birth certificate. That was a very important thing that we needed to do, because should something happen to me, he needed to have as many rights as possible to take care of our children. And so at the time, after we went through all of that, we had to go back to the State of Florida, and show them that he was a legal parent. But they wouldn't put his name on the front of the birth certificate. They created a back that didn't exist for anyone else. But that has changed. And luckily Florida now has one of the most advanced birth certificates in the United States. It says, parent 1, parent 2.

Songwriter and producer Desmond Child talks about the difficulties he and his partner had in ensuring they were both legal parents of their children

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Desmond Child

Songwriter & Producer

For nearly 4 decades, songwriter/producer Desmond Child has reigned as one of music’s most successful creative forces.  His list of accolades includes Grammy awards, 70 Top 50 singles, and songs that have sold over 300 million albums worldwide.  Child’s career has been highlighted by a stunning array of diversity from Bon Jovi and Aerosmith to Ricky Martin, Alice Cooper, KISS and Katy Perry.   Despite having worked for nearly 40 years as a writer, producer, and artist, Child remains energized and enthusiastic.  TWO: The Story of Roman and Nyro documents the 12-year journey of Desmond and his lifelong partner of 24 years, Curtis Shaw, and the extraordinary way they met and connected with Angela Whittaker, the woman who would carry their twin sons, Roman and Nyro, into the world.  From preconception through the boy’s first 10 years, TWO is the personal and powerful story of these unique individuals whose lives become inextricably woven together in magical and unexpected ways.  TWO is a testament to the universal power and ultimate triumph of love – that it is love that makes a family, affirming that modern families may be modern in their making, but timelessly human at their core.

 

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