{"id":19499,"date":"2014-01-15T11:25:43","date_gmt":"2014-01-15T18:25:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/publiccatholic\/?p=19499"},"modified":"2014-12-27T11:53:11","modified_gmt":"2014-12-27T18:53:11","slug":"new-york-judge-rules-that-close-friends-can-legally-adopt-children","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/publiccatholic\/2014\/01\/new-york-judge-rules-that-close-friends-can-legally-adopt-children\/","title":{"rendered":"New York Judge Rules that “Close Friends” Can Legally Adopt Children"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Let me repeat myself<\/a>:<\/p>\n

I try to be cynical, but I just can\u2019t keep up.<\/p>\n

A New York judge has ruled, by way of a \u201cnew interpretation of intimate,\u201d that close friends may now adopt a child together.<\/p>\n

From the National Catholic Register<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

NEW YORK \u2014 A New York state judge has delivered an unprecedented ruling that says close friends who live in separate households can legally adopt children together.<\/p>\n

\u201cKAL and LEL are two loving adults who are both functioning as G.\u2019s parents and have a relationship with each other built on a solid, decade-plus friendship,\u201d stated Surrogate Rita Mella in her Dec. 27, 2013, ruling from Manhattan surrogate court.<\/p>\n

Surrogate Mella\u2019s ruling, \u201cThe Matter of G.,\u201d involves two friends, living in separate households, who decided to adopt a child from Ethiopia together in 2011. According to court papers, the woman, identified as KAL, first wanted to conceive a child via artificial insemination. She then told her wish for a child to her male friend, identified as LEL, who then offered to donate his own sperm. Both KAL and LEL have been friends since 2000, and LEL\u2019s offer meant KAL would not have to use an anonymous sperm donor. After failed attempts at\u00a0in vitro<\/em>\u00a0fertilization, KAL and LEL decided to adopt \u201cG.,\u201d a 2-year-old child from Ethiopia \u2026<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>

\u2026 \u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s madness,\u201d Ed Mechmann, director of the family life office for the Archdiocese of New York, told the Register. \u201cIt just shows how far our society has gone once we move away from marriage as the norm, and we leave these things up to judges. It really just shows there is no limit.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

While Mella\u2019s ruling may be unprecedented, the judge outlines the legal basis for how she came to the conclusion that close friends could adopt under New York state law. Mella noted that the state\u2019s domestic relations law was amended in 2010 to allow \u201cany two unmarried adult intimate partners together\u201d the ability to adopt, alongside single persons and married couples..<\/p>\n

But Mella said it was \u201cdifficult to identify a definitive plain meaning of [the term] \u2018intimate partners,\u2019\u201d since the New York Legislature did not bother to define the term.<\/p>\n

She added, \u201cIt is a relatively new phrase, and one of many imprecise terms used to describe relationships along a continuum between \u2018acquaintance\u2019 or \u2018friend\u2019 and \u2018sexual partner\u2019 or \u2018spouse.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>

Read more:\u00a0http:\/\/www.ncregister.com\/daily-news\/close-friends-go-ahead-and-adopt-rules-n.y.-judge?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NCRegisterDailyBlog+National+Catholic+Register#When:2014-01-15%2006:25:01#ixzz2qUYI8Sd8<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 Let me repeat myself: I try to be cynical, but I just can\u2019t keep up. A New York judge has ruled, by way of a \u201cnew interpretation of intimate,\u201d that close friends may now adopt a child together. From the National Catholic Register: NEW YORK \u2014 A New York state judge has delivered an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1155,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33,1144,750,592,44,4722,520,1],"tags":[5060,7855,1639,1331,214],"class_list":["post-19499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-america","category-calling-evil-good","category-child-abuse","category-child-rearing","category-family","category-holy-matrimony-2","category-marriage-2","category-uncategorized","tag-adoption","tag-child-abuse","tag-children","tag-childrens-rights","tag-gay-marriage"],"yoast_head":"\nNew York Judge Rules that "Close Friends" Can Legally Adopt Children<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"  Let me repeat myself: I try to be cynical, but I just can\u2019t keep up. 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