Three Parents and a Baby

For those looking to talk about any family law topic other than the latest TomKat maneuvers, some pending state legislation may do the trick.

A state senator (in California, natch) has proposed legislation allowing a child to have more than two legal parents.  Any parent would have to meet existing definitions of parenthood, and courts would continue to allocate custody and visitation according to the best interests of the child, including denying contact where appropriate.  But whereas existing law requires courts to choose a maximum of two parents, those with the strongest claims, the proposed bill  would eliminate the cap.  Sponsor state senator Leno offers numerous rationales for the bill including giving more discretion to judges to recognize bonds between parents and children, reducing foster care placements, and increasing children's access to financial support, health insurance and inheritance rights.  Perhaps most significantly, Sen. Leno defends the bill as adapting to the changing needs of families: "The bill brings California into the 21st century, recognizing that there are more than Ozzie and Harriet families today."

I wasn't surprised by this bill, only by how long it took for someone to propose it.  The data is overwhelmingly clear that families don't now, and it's doubtful they ever did, conform to an idealized heterosexual mother and father model.  The growth of assisted reproductive technology (ART) and of unmarried cohabitating couples, both gay and not, as well as the large number of remarriages and stepparents, mean that many children consider multiple adults to be a parent of one type or another.  For instance, the 2009 Current Population Study report estimates that about 12% of all children live with a stepparent (a number experts consider to be an underestimate) and the 2010 census reveals that another 3% live in households with a parent and her or his unmarried partner.  In line with this reality, a few state courts, as well as a Canadian court, have recognized the possibility of more than two legal parents for a particular child.  Numerous scholars have also called for an expanded understanding of legal parenthood, including me and Melanie Jacobs of Michigan State (see Overcoming the Marital Presumption, her latest of a series of articles on this topic). 

Another thing that surprised me is the vehemence of some people's reactions to the bill.  (Although many would say that I should know better by now how worked up folks get about other people's family structures, and they'd be correct).  The comments mostly range from the straightforward if unilluminating (It's not okay for children to have more than two parents.  It's completely weird...") to the outright abusive.  (In fact numerous media outlets including the Sacramento Bee had to shut down comments on the story due to hate speech).   Critics have argued that it will confuse children, compared it to polyaromy and polygamy, and connected it to the ongoing controversy over whether marriage gay couples can marry.  Yet none of the critiques that I have seen---and I've been surfing for days--seem to address the fact that this bill doesn't expand the definition of parenthood, but rather it only allows for more people fitting this definition to be involved with a child, if that's in the child's interests.

The bill has passed the senate and is up for hearing in the state assembly next week.  It is widely expected to pass, but I'm sure not without more furor.  I'm looking forward to posting more on other family law and ethics issues in the coming month.  Thanks to Dan for inviting me.