USA-SAME-SEX ADOPTION/BIRTH CERTIFICATE Same-sex couple files Supreme Court lawsuit over adoption of Ohio baby

Record ID: 335701

  • Title: USA-SAME-SEX ADOPTION/BIRTH CERTIFICATE Same-sex couple files Supreme Court lawsuit over adoption of Ohio baby
  • Date: 11th March 2015
  • Summary: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (MARCH 09, 2015) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) ROBERT TALMAS, COOPER'S ADOPTED FATHER, SAYING: "We are dealing with that difference now and the fact that some states acknowledge and some states don't which is a problem when you have an out-of-state adoption, which we didn't know at the time. In fact, we didn't know until Ohio said t
  • Embargoed: 26th March 2015 12:00
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  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA5LVON93W78OGZY04GEQTSL9DM
  • Story Text: New York residents Joseph Vitale and Robert Talmas are the parents of 23-month-old Cooper Talmas-Vitale, a healthy toddler boy who was born in Ohio.
    The couple got married in New York in September 2011, two months after New York state legalized same-sex marriage. But both men describe the moment they met Cooper, who was born while they were visiting his birthmother at an Ohio hospital, as the best moment of their lives.
    "It was a dream of Joe's to go into the delivery room, so he got to live that dream," Talmas told Reuters.
    "I was downstairs waiting for Joe to text me that first picture so my first introduction to Cooper was really a text of him being held up which was, I mean, I can't really express how emotional that was, but the second we saw him, he was perfect."
    Talmas still has the first photograph of Cooper on his phone, together with a picture of him getting wheeled out of the hospital holding Cooper in his arms.
    Vitale recalled holding the hand of Cooper's birthmother as she delivered the baby.
    "I just said: 'My child, there is my child.' No labels, it was my son," he said.
    "That was the best moment of my life. I know people always say the best moment of their life but seeing him, being there for that experience, because I was building his life then, I was building his journey."
    But their journey as a family entity hit a legal snag soon after Ohio told the couple that only one of them could be listed as Cooper's father on his new amended birth certificate.
    Ohio is one of 13 states banning same-sex marriage, complicating legal issues surrounding Cooper's adoption.
    "We are dealing with that difference now and the fact that some states acknowledge and some states don't which is a problem when you have an out-of-state adoption, which we didn't know at the time," Talmas explained.
    "In fact, we didn't know until Ohio said that they would not issue the birth certificate, it wasn't on the radar of our attorneys. It was supposed to be a very, administrative process. But Ohio unfortunately would not put his name, our names on his birth certificate, we had to choose. And so the situation that we are in now is that we don't want to choose."
    That is why they are suing the state together with three other couples in federal court. For Vitale, having both their names on Cooper's birth certificate is a civil right with real-life implications, such as hospital visit rights and inheritance rights for Cooper after their death.
    Evan Wolfson of "Freedom to Marry", a non-profit organization advocating same-sex marriage rights in the United States, said that discrimination of gay couples will continue even in states that allow same-sex marriage until it is legalized federally.
    "People like Joe and Rob who adopted baby Cooper are harmed by this patchwork of discrimination. Joe and Rob live in New York, they are married. New York honors their marriage but when they go to Ohio to bring home their adopted child, Ohio discriminates against them," he said.
    The Ohio case is part of a consolidated U.S. Supreme Court case that will determine whether states have the right to ban gay marriage. The court is scheduled to hear oral arguments on April 28 on the contentious social issue that promises to yield one of the justices' most important rulings of 2015.
    "A good ruling coming from the Supreme Court that declares unconstitutional the marriage restrictions that are being challenged would likely mean that we will see the freedom to marry and equal treatment of same-sex couples and widows and widowers and their children around the country," said Susan Sommer of Lambda Legal, one of the attorneys representing Talmas and Vitale.
    The nine justices will hear an extended 2-1/2-hour argument in cases concerning same-sex marriage bans in Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky and Tennessee.
    The justices will consider whether same-sex marriage bans are prohibited by the U.S. Constitution's guarantee of equal protection under the law. A ruling is due by the end of June.
    There are currently 37 states where gay marriage has been allowed to proceed, although a legal battle is ongoing in Alabama, with the state's top court putting it on hold.
    The Supreme Court cases come two years after the high court set off a wave of pro-gay marriage rulings by invalidating a federal law that restricted benefits to heterosexual couples.
    At the time of that June 2013 ruling, only 12 of the 50 states permitted gay marriage.
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