Maricopa County will now give free legal help to same-sex couples seeking non-contested adoptions. The same help opposite-sex couples already receive. This comes after county attorney Bill Montgomery refused to provide these free services earlier this year.
In the past, Montgomery said an appeals court ruling that made same-sex marriage legal did not apply to state adoption laws. He still holds that opinion, but now has contracted 10 lawyers to help all couples with non-contested adoptions. James Taylor-Zaborski sees this step as an important one. He and his husband have been going through an adoption process for nearly a year.
“What it means to me is that I’m equal, really equal under the eyes of the law. I’m just as good as everybody else, you know,” he said. “I’m just as likely a parent as anybody else, even though we’re going about parenthood a little differently than some.”
He estimates that he and his husband have spent between $15,000 and $20,000 in legal fees so far with this adoption.
“Fortunately, we’re both, you know, professionally employed, so it’s not necessarily a matter of the money,” he said. “But those are funds that could be put toward helping to raise a child, helping to provide for that child. Honestly, it just seems like I’m paying money to jump through hoops.”
A county attorney spokesman said Taylor-Zaborski’s expenses are not typical, but did not have an official value estimate for the county’s legal help with adoptions. Last year, the county assisted in nearly 300 adoptions.
