This is precisely why Michigan needs laws allowing second parent adoption

The Detroit Free Press reported today, the heart-breaking story of a jilted mother frantically fighting for the right to see the children she has supported and loved unconditionally.

According to a study conducted by the UCLA School of Law, more than 22,000 same-sex couples lived in Michigan in 2007, and 18% of them were raising children. An estimated 7,800 Michigan children were living in same-sex households then.

If you are a parent in one of the thousands of same-sex, Michigan-based families, the fear, anger, and frustration Renee Harmon is experiencing right now is one of your worst nightmares. She’s been the loving mother of a 10-year old girl and two 7-year old twin boys for the last ten years of her life. Yet, in 2008, when her partner, Tammy Davis, requested to end their 19-year relationship, the door was slammed in Harmon’s face, and she was told, “the children were no longer hers.”

Worst yet, current Michigan law makes this perfectly legal. Michigan legislators would rather three children be reared in a single parent home, than allow the shared resources a joint custody relationship between two loving parents could provide.

According to the Free Press article, “[...] the only people who can petition for custody are biological parents or the husband of the biological mother if the child was born during their marriage.

An adoptive parent — biological or nonbiological — also may petition for custody. But the only people who may adopt in Michigan are married couples and single individuals, either gay or straight.

Though state law doesn’t expressly prohibit adoptions by unwed couples, Michigan courts and judges require adoptive couples to be married.”

Whether you are the biological or non-biological parent makes no difference. You’ve changed diapers, watched their first steps, heard their first words, fed them their first taste of solid food. You’ve been meticulously saving for college. You’ve taken them shopping. You’ve watched them build relationships with their peers.

You are a parent no different from any other.

Bottom line: you want the best for your children.

A bill to allow second parent adoption (HB 4131) is stuck in the House, much like its predecessor was two years ago. Supporters of the bill, including the Michigan Department of Human Services, the Michigan Psychological Association and the National Association of Social Workers, say the bill would protect the children of unmarried couples by enabling them to receive insurance, pension and Social Security benefits from either parent, should one of them die or become disabled. In addition, it would protect their right to continue their relationship and receive financial support from both parents after a breakup.

Of course, our state anti-gay mainstays, the Michigan Family Forum and the Michigan Catholic Conference are against the bill.