Adoption - New York
There is nothing as important as family and feeling connected--emotionally, legally and in all other respects--to the ones you love and care about. For many people, a strong family unit already exists in the day to day lives of those in it, yet in the eyes of the law, the connection is vague or altogether absent. A step-parent adoption (if married) or a second-parent adoption (if unmarried) can create that legal bond of parentage to a child of your spouse or partner, to ensure that you too have the right to make medical, educational and other decisions for the child and make your obligations towards the well-being of that child clear.
This is especially important in LGBTQ families where eligibility requirements to obtain a Judgment of Parentage in New York cannot be met, including even in those families where reciprocal IVF was used, yet the woman who contributed the egg to the conception of the child has no clear, legally-secure parental rights which she can rely upon should the family choose to relocate or travel to a less LGBTQ-friendly location.
If your path to legally-secured parenthood includes a step-parent adoption or second-parent adoption of your partner or spouse's biological or adopted child (or a child they gave birth to, even if you provided the egg through IVF), the Law Office of Jennifer P. Maas, PLLC can provide you with a lawyer who can guide you through the legal process to help establish a legal connection between you and the child in New York.
