## Facts

- Two unmarried adults in a long-term, cohabiting same-sex relationship planned to raise a child together in the District of Columbia.
- One partner had already adopted the child; the other partner later joined in a petition seeking an adoption decree that would make both adults legal parents.
- The trial court found both petitioners suitable and indicated the adoption would serve the child’s best interests.
- The trial court nevertheless denied the petition, reasoning that the adoption statute did not allow (1) joint adoption by two unmarried persons and (2) a second adoption that preserved the first adoptive parent’s rights absent an explicit statutory exception.
- The petitioners appealed.

## Issues

1. Whether District of Columbia adoption law permits two unmarried persons, including same-sex partners in a committed relationship, to adopt a child jointly.
2. If so, whether a prior adoption by one partner bars a later adoption by the other partner when the requested decree would leave the first adoptive parent’s rights intact.

## Decision

- The court reversed the denial and remanded for any necessary factual findings and, if still warranted, entry of an adoption decree.
- It held that the statute permits joint adoption by two unmarried persons.
- It held that an existing adoption by one partner does not prevent the other partner from adopting without terminating the first adoptive parent’s parental rights, when consistent with the child’s best interests.

## Legal Principles

- Statutory language authorizing adoption by “any person,” read with the District’s general rule that singular terms may include the plural, can allow joint adoption by two petitioners absent contextual contrary indication.
- Adoption statutes should be construed to advance the child’s best interests; a court should avoid interpretations that categorically disqualify otherwise suitable parents in a manner that frustrates child-welfare purposes.
- Traditional termination-of-parental-rights effects of adoption do not require extinguishing an existing adoptive parent’s rights when a second parent is added in a second-parent adoption; the rationale preventing harm from severing an established parent-child bond supports preserving that relationship.

## Conclusion

The court interpreted District of Columbia adoption law to allow unmarried partners to adopt jointly and to permit a second-parent adoption that adds a legal parent without terminating the first adoptive parent’s rights, provided the adoption serves the child’s best interests.


In re M.M.D. & B.H.M., 662 A.2d 837 (D.C. 1995)