A California court is considering a move to expand the parent-child relationship in the state to allow a child to legally have more than two parents.
Sen. Mark Leno, a Democrat, has proposed a bill that he says will allow California to catch up with the times, and give family courts the power to make decisions that keep children out of foster care when a third “parent” is willing to step in.
"This bill would, in the case of a child with more than two legal parents, require the court to allocate custody and visitation among the parents based on the best interest of the child, including stability for the child," states bill SB 1476, which has been approved in the Senate and will soon go to a vote in the state Assembly.
Under the current law, for example, a child with two lesbian parents who have raised her since birth, but who are suddenly unable or deemed unfit to continue maintaining custody of the girl, would be forced into foster care.
The child would be unable to enter into the custody of her biological father -- despite having a relationship with him -- because he couldn't be legally considered a parent under the current laws.
While Leno's bill doesn't attempt to change the definition of what constitutes a parent, it allows for more than two people to be defined as such, in order that the child's best interests are protected.
The law would also apply to more traditional family situations, where a child is raised by his mother, and a non-biological father, but also has a relationship with his biological father.
Leno told the Sacramento Bee, which first reported the story, that the bill would allow California to keep pace with the changing definition of the family.
Surrogate parent arrangements, same-sex marriages and new reproductive techniques have all vastly changed the makeup of many families, and the law needs to adapt, he said.
California wouldn't be the first state to implement such a change. Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maine and the District of Columbia have all changed their legal codes to recognize more than two parents in a family unit.
While the bill appears intended to protect children, some family values advocacy groups have argued that it in fact erodes the idea of what constitutes a family, and allows parents to invent their own definitions.
