Recognition and Enforcement of out-of-State Adoption Decrees under the Full Faith and Credit Clause: The Case of Supplemental Birth Certificates (Note)

摘要

This Note addresses a less frequently cited gay rights issue affecting same-sex relationships-the interplay between the Full Faith and Credit Clause and state laws governing issuance of supplemental birth certificates to out-of-state adoptive parents of the same sex. Two circuit level decisions stand as an archetype of such conflicting treatment-Finstuen v. Crutcherso and Adar v. Smith. This Note posits that the Fifth Circuit in Adar misinterpreted Louisiana law and incorrectly concluded the state's statutes prohibited issuance of a revised birth certificate to the plaintiffs. The Note proceeds in four parts. First, it surveys the history and current state of the law regarding same sex parent adoptions. It then charts the role of the Full Faith and Credit Clause in recognition and enforcement of out-of-state judgments and provides a summary of the Tenth and Fifth Circuits' decisions and the respective state statutes behind those holdings. The following section compares the state statutes implicated in Finstuen and Adar and asks whether the latter erroneously concluded that Louisiana law did not require issuance of a revised birth certificate. This Note concludes that in its quest to distinguish Finstuen, Adar misinterpreted established law and incorrectly concluded that "Louisiana does not permit any unmarried couples whether adoption [occurred] out-of-state or in-state[-Ito obtain revised birth certificates with both parents' names on them."