## Facts

- A biological mother sought to have her unmarried partner adopt her child as a second parent; the child’s biological father consented.
- In a consolidated proceeding, another biological mother’s long-term unmarried same-sex partner similarly petitioned to adopt the mother’s child as a second parent.
- The Family Courts dismissed both petitions, concluding New York’s adoption statute authorized adoption only by a single adult or by spouses jointly, and that adoption would require termination of the biological mother’s rights.
- The Appellate Division affirmed both dismissals.
- The New York Court of Appeals consolidated the appeals.

## Issues

1. Whether Domestic Relations Law § 110 permits an unmarried adult to adopt the child of the adopter’s unmarried partner (a second-parent adoption).
2. Whether Domestic Relations Law § 117 requires termination of the consenting biological parent’s parental rights when an unmarried partner adopts.
3. Whether the petitions may proceed to a best-interests determination on the merits.

## Decision

- The Court of Appeals reversed the Appellate Division orders and remitted for further proceedings.
- The court held that Domestic Relations Law § 110 allows an unmarried person to petition to adopt, even if the petitioner is the unmarried partner of the child’s biological parent.
- The court held that Domestic Relations Law § 117 does not require termination of the consenting biological parent’s rights in this setting.
- The court directed that the adoption petitions be evaluated on their merits under the child’s best interests.
- A dissent would have affirmed, reasoning that recognizing second-parent adoption by unmarried partners required legislative action.

## Legal Principles

- Domestic Relations Law § 110’s authorization for “an adult unmarried person” to adopt is not limited by the fact that the adopter is in an unmarried relationship with the child’s biological parent.
- Domestic Relations Law § 117’s general severance of birth-parent rights upon adoption is not applied rigidly where the biological parent consents and the adoption is intended to add a second legal parent without displacing the first.
- Adoption statutes are construed in light of legislative purpose and the child’s welfare; standing and effects provisions should be read to permit, not defeat, placements that can secure stable legal parentage.
- A second-parent adoption may proceed for unmarried couples regardless of sexual orientation, subject to the ordinary best-interests inquiry and required consents.

## Conclusion

The court recognized that an unmarried partner—heterosexual or same-sex—may seek to adopt a child as a second parent, and that the consenting biological parent need not lose parental rights; the petitions were allowed to proceed to best-interests review.


Matter of Jacob, 86 N.Y.2d 651 (N.Y. 1995)