In a case that risked far-reaching consequences, the Georgia Court of Appeals recently upheld a second-parent adoption involving a lesbian couple, but avoided taking a stand on whether the state’s ban on same-sex marriage impacts the legality of second-parent adoptions overall.
First reported in the Fulton Daily Report, the case involves Nicole Bates and her former partner, Tina Bates. Nicole Bates became pregnant through an anonymous sperm donor in 2007 and she wanted her partner, Tina, to adopt the child so both could be legal parents.
The second-parent adoption was approved in Fulton County by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Ural Glanville. Although the couple did not live in Fulton County, their attorney said it would be easier to get a same-sex second parent adoption approved there.