Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY — The U.S. Supreme Court's decision not to hear any of the four gay marriage cases brought before the justices on appeal effectively made same-sex marriage legal in Utah.
For state government, the legal adjustments are just beginning, including addressing heath benefits, tax issues, power of attorney and adoption benefits.
For some gay couples hoping to legally unite their families through adoption, the decision was especially sweet, because Monday's ruling also allows adoptions to take place if one of the parents is biologically related to their child.
Candice Green-Berrett and her wife, Megan Berrett, were married in New York in 2012. Green-Berret delivered their first child one year ago, but Berrett could not be legally recognized as Quinn's parent because she was not biologically related to her daughter.
"It was devastating that, legally, I am not responsible for my kid," she said.
Now that same-sex marriage has been legalized not only will the couple's union be recongnized by the state, but Green-Berrett can also become a legal parent to Quinn.
"She deserves to have both of her moms in her life," Green-Berrett said.
She and Berrett also hope to adopt a second child, but that adoption will have to wait. Only a biological child of one of the partners can be legally adopted by a couple; state adoption is out of the question.
"If it is foster placement, or is placement by the state, it is to a married couple — between a man and a woman," explained Wade Taylor, a child custody attorney in Salt Lake City.
"We still have this state-sanctioned discrimination against gay couples," Taylor said.
But that hasn't deterred Berrett and Green-Berrett.
"It just goes to show that the work is not done," Berrett said.
Contributing: Rich Piatt
