If you are a same-sex parent in Coral Gables, Florida, you may have questions about your parental rights to your child. You deserve to know how the law protects your relationship with your child.
Marriage
There are different ways that same-sex parents can obtain parental rights to their child in Florida, depending on their circumstances. If you are married to the biological mother of your child, you are presumed to be the legal parent of your child, regardless of your gender. This means that your name can be listed on the birth certificate, and you have all the rights and responsibilities of a parent.
This presumption applies to children born during or before the marriage, as long as there is no other legal father established by a court. This presumption also applies to children conceived through assisted reproductive technology, such as artificial insemination or in vitro fertilization, as long as both spouses consented to the procedure.
Adoption
If you are not married to the biological mother, or if you are a male same-sex couple, you can obtain parental rights by adopting your child. Adoption is a legal process that grants full parental rights and responsibilities to the adoptive parent, regardless of their biological relationship to the child. Adoption can be done through an agency, a private arrangement or a stepparent adoption. Adoption requires the consent of the biological parent(s) or the termination of their parental rights by a court.
Surrogacy
If you are a male same-sex couple who wants to have a child that is genetically related to one or both of you, you can use a surrogate mother to carry and deliver your child. Surrogacy can be done through gestational surrogacy (where the surrogate is not genetically related to the child) or a traditional surrogacy (where the surrogate is also the egg donor). Surrogacy requires a written contract between the intended parent(s) and the surrogate, as well as compliance with Florida’s surrogacy statute.