Adoption and Family Planning
See also: LGBT parentingNew Hampshire law allows a person, regardless of actual or perceived sexual orientation, to adopt. A law banning adoptions by gay parents was repealed in 1999.
A 1987 state Supreme Court ruling by Justice David Souter stated that adoption laws are designed to give children one home "that is unified and stable." Judicial interpretations of this ruling and state laws have varied from county to county. Since 1999, all of New Hampshire's ten counties allow adoption provided the adoptive couple or individual is stable and can care for children. A complete criminal record check is required.
New Hampshire law allows any woman to undergo donor insemination. State law allows both married couples and those in civil unions to enter into contractual agreements regarding surrogacy, if all contracting parties are at least 21 years of age and follow the rules set forth in the state statutes.
Read more about this topic: LGBT Rights In New Hampshire
Famous quotes containing the words adoption, family and/or planning:
“Frankly, I adore your catchy slogan, “Adoption, not Abortion,” although no one has been able to figure out, even with expert counseling, how to use adoption as a method of birth control, or at what time of the month it is most effective.”
—Barbara Ehrenreich (b. 1941)
“Unfortunately, life may sometimes seem unfair to middle children, some of whom feel like an afterthought to a brilliant older sibling and unable to captivate the family’s attention like the darling baby. Yet the middle position offers great training for the real world of lowered expectations, negotiation, and compromise. Middle children who often must break the mold set by an older sibling may thereby learn to challenge family values and seek their own identity.”
—Marianne E. Neifert (20th century)
“For the people in government, rather than the people who pester it, Washington is an early-rising, hard-working city. It is a popular delusion that the government wastes vast amounts of money through inefficiency and sloth. Enormous effort and elaborate planning are required to waste this much money.”
—P.J. (Patrick Jake)