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House committee advances bill to speed confirmatory adoptions for families formed by assisted reproduction
Summary
The Vermont House heard detailed second-reading debate on H.98, which would create an expedited adoption procedure to confirm parentage for families formed through assisted reproduction and remove some traditional adoption requirements; the committee recommended amendments and the measure was ordered to a third reading after a voice vote.
Representative Malone, the member from South Burlington, presented House Bill 98 on the House floor as an amendment-recommended, expedited procedure to confirm parent–child relationships for families formed through assisted reproduction.
The bill would add a new section to Vermont’s adoption statutes (title 15 A) to let parents already recognized under the Vermont Parentage Act obtain an adoption decree without the full set of traditional adoption requirements such as home inspections and separate background checks. Malone told members the change is intended to protect families when they move across state lines and to reduce the time, cost and intrusiveness of the traditional adoption process for parents who already have legal parentage in Vermont.
Malone said, “It proposes an expedited confirmatory adoption process,” and walked the House through provisions printed in the calendar. Under the bill as presented, a petition would include a signed adoption petition, a copy of the petitioners’ marriage certificate if married, a declaration describing the assisted reproduction and attesting to consent, and a certified copy of the child’s birth certificate. The petition would operate as written consent to adoption, and courts could waive traditional adoption requirements in discretion. The bill would also specify that notice or consent of a gamete or embryo donor is not required.
The bill text references the Vermont Parentage Act and provisions in title 15 C governing consent to assisted reproduction; Malone and the committee said the change is aimed at ensuring families recognized in Vermont receive protections that are more portable across other states, noting the role of the U.S. Constitution’s full faith and credit principles in recognizing court orders issued by another state.
The committee presented an ambiguity it had identified in the notice requirement for nonmarital parents (subdivision g(2)(B) in the bill). Malone said members may see an amendment on third reading to clarify that point. The committee reported receiving testimony from Legislative Council, GLAD (GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders), Family Equality, the Vermont Judiciary (including the chief superior judge), and a Burlington law firm specializing in adoption and surrogacy law.
The Committee on Judiciary recommended the amendment (committee vote 11–0) and the House adopted the committee’s recommended amendment by voice vote. A subsequent voice vote ordered third reading.
The bill, as printed, would take effect on July 1, 2025, if enacted. The House debate distinguished between the committee’s recommended amendments, outstanding technical clarifications the committee signaled for third reading, and the formal floor actions taken by voice votes.
Votes and formal actions recorded on the floor for H.98 were by voice vote; no roll-call tally was recorded in the transcript of the floor proceeding.
