Alabama court voids lesbian couple's Georgia adoption agreement
The Supreme Court of Alabama on Friday overturned a lower court ruling that had recognized the 2007 adoption of three children in Georgia by one partner in a lesbian couple that has since split up.
The couple, who live and work in Alabama, had taken up official residence in Georgia to take advantage of its adoption laws.
After breaking up in 2011, one woman in the relationship, referred to as V.L., filed a petition in Alabama in 2013 saying she was being denied parental rights by her former partner, referred to as E.L., the biological mother of the children.
In a seven-to-one decision, the court said "the Georgia court was not empowered to enter the Georgia judgment declaring V.L. to be an adoptive parent of the children. ... The Georgia judgment is accordingly void, and the full faith and credit clause does not require the courts of Alabama to recognize that judgment."
The U.S. Constitution's full faith and credit clause says each state must respect the "public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state."
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http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/09/18/usa-gayrights-adoption-idUSL1N11O2W920150918