New Vermont Law Will Make It Easier for LGBTQ Parents to Confirm Legal Parentage

[Lori Dee]

New Vermont Law Will Make It Easier for LGBTQ Parents to Confirm Legal Parentage
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Mombian - May 27, 2025

The Republican governor of Vermont, Phil Scott, signed a bill May 22 that will make it easier for nongestational LGBTQ parents to confirm their legal parentage via adoption, without burdensome and unnecessary requirements.

Vermont's new confirmatory adoption law, however, makes it the 10th state (per the Movement Advancement Project) that now offers a much simplified process. It builds on 2018's Vermont Parentage Act, which set out clear paths to parentage for all parents, including LGBTQ parents, unmarried parents, and those who used assisted reproduction. Under the confirmatory adoption law, people who had children via assisted reproduction and who are parents or presumed parents under the Vermont Parentage Act can petition for an adoption decree simply by filing:

* A petition for adoption signed by all parents;
* A copy of the petitioners' marriage certificate, if applicable;
* A signed declaration explaining the circumstances of the child's birth through assisted reproduction, attesting that the parents consented to assisted reproduction, and stating that no other persons have a claim to parentage;
* A certified copy of the child's birth certificate.

The process does not require [an in-person court appearance,] a home study, background check, notice to donor, or minimum residency period of the child in the home.

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The Vermont confirmatory adoption law goes into effect on July 1, 2025.