House committee advances bill to streamline confirmatory adoptions for families using assisted reproduction

Representative Malone, member from South Burlington, reported H.98 on behalf of the Committee on Judiciary and walked the House through the bill during its second reading on Feb. 19, 2025. The bill would create an expedited confirmatory adoption procedure for parents who are already legally recognized under Vermont law after assisted reproduction.

The proposal is intended to protect families formed through assisted reproduction in other states and to reduce procedural burdens that currently accompany traditional adoptions. "This bill is a common sense provision that makes the adoption process more streamlined and efficient for parents seeking an adoption decree to firmly establish an existing parent-child relationship recognized under the Vermont Parentage Act," Malone said.

Under the bill as explained by Malone, the new section in Title 15A would allow petitioners to file a confirmatory-adoption petition containing a signed adoption petition by all parents, a marriage certificate if applicable, a declaration describing the assisted-reproduction circumstances and consent, and a certified copy of the child's birth certificate. The measure would treat a complete petition as the petitioners' written consent to adoption, would not require notice to or consent from a gamete or embryo donor, and would exempt the petitioners from many of the procedural requirements that apply to traditional adoptions (while preserving judicial discretion to impose additional safeguards in appropriate cases).

Malone noted one ambiguity the committee identified in the notice requirement where a person may have a competing claim to parentage; the committee indicated an amendment addressing that point may appear on third reading. The bill sets an effective date of July 1, 2025.

Malone said the committee heard from Legislative Council, the director of family advocacy at GLAD (GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders), a senior policy counsel from Family Equality, representatives of the Vermont Judiciary (including the chief superior judge), and a private law practitioner with experience in adoption and surrogacy law. The Judiciary Committee reported the bill to the floor with an amendment and requested the House's support; the committee vote was reported as "11" (details not specified).

The body adopted the committee's amendment by voice vote and, by voice vote, ordered the bill read a third time.

If enacted, the bill would allow families already recognized as parents under Vermont law to obtain an adoption decree through a faster process intended primarily to secure cross-jurisdictional recognition of parent-child relationships.