Second-Parent Adoption by Same-Sex Couples in Ohio: Unsettled and Unsettling Law

Ohio law regarding second-parent adoptions remains unsettled. Section II of this article provides an overview of Ohio adoption law. Section III presents the case of In re Jane Doe, starting with the decision of the lesbian couple to jointly bring a child into this world, and continuing with the efforts of both mothers to obtain legal recognition for the de facto parent's status through adoption, and the legal strategies employed by the mothers' attorneys, also addressed are the court-appointed Guardian Ad Litem (GAL), the social science data supplied by the amicus curiae to help the court reach a fully informed decision, and the Ohio courts' rejection of the possibility of second-parent adoptions in Ohio. Section IV offers a critique of the courts' analysis of the case. Section V is a brief conclusion.