House State Affairs Hearing on HB 537 Mar 18th, 2015

It is standard practice for courts to issue “supplementary birth certificates” that reflect the names of adoptive parents. This is done because birth certificates are the primary document for establishing the parental relationships and are often required to enroll children in school, add them to the parents’ insurance policy or admit them for medical treatment. Current Texas law does not allow two men or two women, who are both the legal parents of a child, to receive a supplementary birth certificate reflecting both of their names. This creates a serious obstacle for parents in caring for their children. HB 537 addresses this inequity.
Facts:
• Adoption by two parents of the same gender is a fact of life in Texas. Over 9,191 same sex couples are raising children in Texas .
• In Texas, if the parents of an adopted child are of the same gender, the child cannot get the primary document used to demonstrate their relationship with their parents.
• Correcting this inequity in the law does not create any new rights, privileges or relationships.