Posted on 11/02/2001 9:36:52 AM PST by marshmallow
A powerful homosexual legal group has filed suit against the state of Mississippi for allegedly refusing to issue an amended birth certificate to a 4-year-old boy adopted by two Vermont lesbians.
Martha Holly Perdue and Cheri Lynn Goldstein took the boy into their Vermont home eight days after his birth.
The lesbians, through the New York-based Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund (LLDEF) and Mississippi attorney J. Cliff Johnson II, have asked a Hinds County judge to order the state to issue the amended birth certificate.
Perdue told the Associated Press she feels the state’s delay is because both names given as parents were female.
“If my name were Ira or Robin or a non-gender specific name, would they have known?” Perdue said.
Pro-family advocates say issuing a revised birth certificate under such circumstances undermines the credibility of the closed adoption records system.
“If two lesbians are named on a birth certificate as the biological parents, then the certificate might as well state that the child was born on Mars, 300 years ago,” said Robert Knight, director of the Culture and Family Institute, an affiliate of Concerned Women for America.
“Mississippi has decided to hold to the traditional, moral definition of family,” said Knight. “Unfortunately, they may be forced to change some of their procedures, designed to uphold that definition and protect the parties involved, by the actions of a radical state like Vermont.”
Perdue said that she and her partner will not adopt from Mississippi or other states that ban adoption by homosexual “couples” again. Goldstein and Perdue have eight adoptive children and care for two mentally retarded adults. Perdue is an 18-year foster parent in Vermont and is hired by that state to care for special-needs children.
“The state of Mississippi is unfairly punishing this small boy by denying him his birth certificate, which is a basic necessity for everyday life,” said Lambda Deputy Legal Director Michael Adams in a press release.
Mississippi state Department of Health officials had no comment on the case.
The Mississippi boy’s adoption was finalized in Vermont in April 2000. Mississippi enacted a law banning homosexual adoption just one month later. There is confusion over how, or if, that ban applies to out-of-state adoptions.
According to Mississippi code, the Bureau of Vital Statistics provides an amended birth certificate to the family upon finalization of an adoption. The purpose of a revised birth certificate is to facilitate a closed adoption system, where all information on the birth parents is kept hidden.
“The said bureau shall prepare a revised birth certificate which shall contain the original date of birth, with the place of birth being shown as the residence of the adoptive parents at the time the child was born, but with the names of the adopting parents and the new name of the child,” reads Mississippi code, section 93-17-21.
The revised birth certificate is accurate in all other respects and reveals that it is revised only by code numbers or a letter “inconspicuously placed on the face of the certificate,” according to the code.
Don't go away "New Butt Order® (NBO) mad", just go away!
What in the #@%^!!!
Who in their right mind would give an 18-year old(Queer or not) custody over eight children and two mentally retarded adults?? I have never in my life heard of an 18 year old being able to adopt. The state of Vermont is insane.
It doesn't say she's 18 years old... it says she's been a foster parent for 18 years.
Perhaps you should read more carefully.
She has been a foster parent for eighteen years.
Maybe the spittle from your frothing has fogged your screen.
snip:
'' "Jody Renaldo, executive director of Equality Mississippi said Mississippi law requires the state to honor valid, out of state adoptions. He said that while it is true Mississippi bans same-sex adoptions, the state has no authority over adoptions approved in other states.
Lambda case against the state is strong. Mississippi is ignoring its own law that requires it honor valid, out-of-state adoptions and provide an amended birth certificate when the adoption is complete. Singling this child out for different treatment not only creates an unlawful exception to state law and regulations, but violates the guarantee of equal protection of the law under the Mississippi Constitution. "
Yeah. Better to let the children languish in a state sponsored orphanage.
"The state of Vermont Social Services has sought out both Cheri and Holly as a family that can care for special needs adults and children," said Hector Vargas, a Lambda official in Atlanta. Noting that the couple has eight adopted children, he said the state recognizes "they have been able to provide a caring, loving home and atmosphere for their family. "
This is important stuff. If the amended certificate flatly states that the parents are adoptive, I think the GLAAD people will win. BUT, it is still important (for future health concerns) for the child to ultimately have access to his or her genealogical info.
From "ClayHellion" on the other thread:
"Birth certificates are always amended when an adoption is finalized. This practice occurs in all 50 states. The original "real" birth certificate is sealed, and the amended one is issued, which makes it appear as though the adopting parents are the biological parents of the child. This practice had some value 50 years ago when birth out of wedlock and adoption were both stigmatized. However, today the practice is outdated. I believe a "Certificate of Adoption" should be issued rather than an amended birth certificate. "
I tend to agree with this.
It doesn't sound like Mississippi is denying a birth certificate, just one with the lesbian 'parents' names on it. The record of the child's birth will always be on file, it will show the BIRTH PARENTS' names. Why don't they just take the original birth certificate from Mississippi, then get a VERMONT adoption certificate showing the adoptive parents names on it, but referencing the original MS certificate.
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