A federal appeals court has ruled in favor of a California couple’s quest for a birth certificate for their adopted son that includes both fathers’ names
Oren Adar and Mickey Ray Smith, who adopted a Louisiana-born baby boy in 2006 through a court in New York, filed suit in 2007 after they were refused the certificate by Louisiana registrar Darlene W. Smith, citing state laws barring unmarried couples from adopting children in Louisiana.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that that Louisiana is required to give “full faith and credit” to the New York adoption decree, upholding the 2008 judgment of the district court.
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The news you care about, reported on by the people who care about you.Judge Jacques Wiener Jr. wrote that Louisiana law “does not vest the Registrar with the discretion to refuse to make a new, correct birth certificate for a Louisiana-born child” when the New York adoption decree “indisputably satisfies” Louisiana requirements.
