Introduction

Did you know stepfathers have no legal rights with their stepchildren?  Did you know as a stepfather the law identifies you as a “legal stranger” to your stepchildren?  You are considered a legal stranger unless you adopt your stepchildren.  Adoption of a stepchild requires the biological dad’s approval and agreement to give up his parental status rights not usually an easy thing for a dad to do. 

You cannot legally sign your stepchildren into hospital emergency wards.  Often, you cannot visit your stepchild in the hospital’s intensive care unit because you are not considered “immediate family” although your “not-immediate family” money is gladly accepted when it becomes time to pay the medical bills.  You cannot have access to your stepchildren’s school records even though you are the one regularly helping them with their homework.

Enter SB 1476

A bill, SB 1476, under consideration by California lawmakers would allow children to have more than two parents.  Introduced by state Senator Mark Leno from San Francisco, the bill amends California’s current two-parent-per-child law to allow for three or more parents to protect the best interests of the child.  The additional parents would have to meet a court-established definition of a parent.

The bill brings California into the 21st century, recognizing there are more than Ozzie and Harriet families today,” Leno told the newspaper Sacramento Bee.

According to Leno, the bill’s intent is to eliminate the limit of two parents per child. It is not meant to expand the definition of who can qualify as a parent.  Leno said inspiration for the bill came from a 2011 state appellate court case in which a young girl had two mothers.  When one of the mothers was sent to prison, and the other was hospitalized, the girl’s biological father wanted to care for her.

However, because of California’s current law allowing only two parents per child, the biological father could not be a legal guardian.  The state took custody of the child.  Leno said the law would have limited application in California and is similar to legislation already present in other states – Delaware, Maine, Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia (DC).

SB 1476 passed in the Senate in late May and was scheduled to be considered by the Assembly Appropriations Committee on July 9.  Groups in opposition to the legislation, such as the Association of Certified Family Law Specialists (ACFLS), claim the bill would create confusion in the minds of children.

For example, ACFLS President Diane Wasznicky said it would create an exception to California’s formula for child support payments.  Benjamin Lopez, a legislative analyst for the Traditional Values Coalition, also blasted Leno’s bill as a new attempt to “revamp, redefine and muddy the waters” of family structure in the drive to legalize gay marriage, he told the Sacramento Bee.  Senator Leno is an openly gay man.

Under the proposal, families with three or more parents would share custody, financial responsibility and visitation for the child, based on a judge’s determination of each parent’s wealth and the time spent with the child.  The legislation does not place any limit on the number of recognized parents a child could have, although, Leno called the possibility of a child having five or six parents “laughable.”

My Thoughts

At first blush, passage of this bill doesn’t raise the hair on the back of my neck, but I think I don’t have enough information.  For example, the instance Senator Leno identifies as the catalyst behind the bill.  I find it difficult to believe the biological father wouldn’t be given a priority for custody of the girl under the circumstances identified.  Was there anything else that came into play?  For example, having a criminal record (convicted felon) or unemployed.  I also wonder about the following:

• Implementation
  • What would be changed after the bill’s passage?
• Should biological parents always have the final say in decisions involving their children?
• Marriage
  • How would passage of this bill bring us closer to legalizing gay marriage?

Please leave your thoughts regarding this and similar legislation in the comments below.  I would really like to hear how this works in the states (Delaware, Maine, Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia (DC)) that have similar laws.