Oklahoma enacted HB 1821, barring joint adoption by same-sex couples and blocking recognition of their out-of-state adoptions

On May 3, 2004, Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry signed HB 1821 into law, amending the state's Adoption Code in two significant ways: it prohibited joint or second-parent adoption "by more than one individual of the same sex," and it required that any adoption decree issued by a foreign (out-of-state) court be registered with and reviewed by an Oklahoma court before taking effect, a mechanism that allowed Oklahoma courts to deny recognition to same-sex couple adoptions validly completed in other states.

The bill was authored by Representative Winchester in the Oklahoma House and carried in the Senate by Senator Smith as principal Senate author. It was introduced in February 2004, passed the House 94-0 on March 10, 2004, and cleared the Senate 44-0 on April 12, 2004. The enrolled version, incorporating Senate amendments, was approved by the House 93-4 on April 26, 2004 and sent to the governor. The bill included an emergency clause, giving it immediate effect upon the governor's signature.

The in-state adoption restriction effectively barred same-sex couples from jointly adopting a child in Oklahoma, leaving adoptive parents in such relationships without the legal protections afforded to jointly adopting couples — including rights to the child in the event of a partner's death or dissolution of the relationship. The interstate recognition restriction went further, directing Oklahoma courts to scrutinize and potentially void adoption decrees that same-sex couples had lawfully obtained in other states.

Updates

2007-08-03 — Tenth Circuit struck down interstate-recognition restriction in Finstuen v. Crutcher [2, 3]

In August 2007, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit ruled in Finstuen v. Crutcher that Oklahoma's requirement that courts review and potentially refuse recognition of out-of-state adoption decrees by same-sex couples was unconstitutional. The court ordered Oklahoma to recognize an adoption by a same-sex couple whose child had been born in Oklahoma and whose parents had been married elsewhere, and to issue a revised birth certificate naming both adoptive parents. The in-state adoption ban remained in place.

2014-10-06 — Oklahoma began permitting adoption by same-sex couples [2]

In October 2014, Oklahoma began permitting adoption by same-sex couples, ending the in-state restriction that HB 1821 had imposed for a decade.