While there is no law in Georgia limiting adoptions by lesbians and gays, prospective parents still face legal and financial challenges that require significant advance planning, according to speakers at a recent panel sponsored by Southern Voice and One Georgia Bank.
Jeffrey Cleghorn, a partner in the Atlanta law firm of Kitchens New, described adoptions options for gays and lesbians. The Georgia standard for legal adoption requires any adult to be at least 25 years old, a state resident for at least six months and financially, physically and mentally able to have custody, although married adults under 25 can adopt if living with their spouse.
“You hear that and you go, ‘That doesn’t sound too difficult,’” Cleghorn said at the Nov. 19 event, which took place at Hotel Indigo. “OK, fine, but how is that standard applied to lesbian people and gay people, bisexual and transgender people? That can be a little trickier.”
Second-parent adoption, which allows same-sex parents to adopt the child of their partner without the partner losing parental rights, is an option, he said. Georgia law does not specifically allow or prohibit second-parent adoption for gays and lesbians. While judges in some counties have approved second-parent adoption, Cleghorn said the farther one gets from the Atlanta-Decatur area the more likely a judge is to deny it.
Reproductive technologies including surrogacy and ova and sperm donations was another option Cleghorn discussed. It’s important in those situations, he said, to have good donor contracts.
There are steps same-sex Georgia couples can take to protect their relationships, measures Cleghorn said are especially important for couples looking to adopt. He recommended establishing domestic partnership agreements, as well as power of attorney and advanced directives for healthcare.
With Florida’s ban on gay adoption and the successful initiative banning adoption by unmarried people in Arkansas, Cleghorn said there continues to be concern that the Georgia legislature will follow suit.
“There’s no great concern with this coming legislative session in January that that is a real threat, but it is something that could happen, so we have to be diligent as a community in supporting organizations such as Georgia Equality and the Stonewall Bar Association and others who are keeping an eye out to protect us as best they can,” Cleghorn said. “What we kind of need to keep in context is we still live in Georgia and we still have a long way to go in terms of the broader spectrum of marriage rights, of family rights, before these kinds of risks are completely eliminated.”
FINANCIAL CONCERNS
Adoption is a financial challenge as well. Cleghorn estimated clients will spend $3,500 - $5,000 in attorney fees for their first adoption, and an additional $1,500 – $2,500 for their second. Adele Gipson, a senior financial planner with Consolidated Planning Corporation in Atlanta, said adoption can cost up to $40,000, while surrogacy can cost as much as $150,000.
“You want to go into the whole process with your eyes wide open in terms of what it’s going to cost you,” Gipson said. “Typically you would like to start three to five years ahead of time and start planning and saving for the funds to create your family.”
To acquire the necessary funds for adoption, Gipson recommended investing in a high-yielding certificate of deposit or money market. While many people choose to borrow against their home equity or 401 (k), Gipson said this should be a method of last resort so people can avoid going into debt before even having their child.
When filing their federal income taxes, parents may be able to claim a tax credit for expenses they paid to adopt a child. The adoption tax credit is valuable, Gipson said, because it reduces parents’ tax liability dollar for dollar. The maximum adoption tax credit that can be claimed in 2008 is $11,650 of qualified adoption expenses per eligible child. Additionally, Gipson said states will often subsidize the costs of adopting children with special needs.
Kristine French of Independent Adoption Center in Tucker said the typical wait time for adopting a child is 12 – 18 months, although same-sex male couples may have to wait less than 12 months.
Jay Varnedoe and his partner, Jason Henderson, live in Cumming and came to the seminar to learn about their parenting options.
“It was a wonderful presentation,” Varnedoe said. “It actually hit a lot of points we had an interest in and also brought up other things we need to be aware of when proceeding into the future.”
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