Same Sex – Second Parent Adoption Case Decided by North Carolina Supreme Court

The North Carolina Supreme Court ruled on the issue of same sex adoptions, or second parent adoptions, in the case of Boseman vs. Jarrell. This case involved a same sex couple who conceived a child together. After the child was born, the second parent adopted the child. The North Carolina Supreme Court ruled that the adoption decree was void ab initio because “the General Assembly did not vest our courts with subject matter jurisdiction to create the type of adoption attempted here.”

However, the North Carolina Supreme Court upheld the child custody order which granted the second parent custodial rights over the child because “by intentionally creating a family unit in which [Jarrell] permanently shared parental responsibilities with [Boseman], [Jarrell] acted inconsistently with her paramount parental status. Thus, the District Court, New Hanover County, (“the trial court”) did not err by utilizing the “best interest of the child” standard to make its custody award.”

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