Vermont offers a Civil Union, thereby a kin status, but only within the state, and it is not recognized by the federal system.
For most same-sex couples, only one of the adults is legally recognized as the parent. That is, only one person has the right to make decisions about a child's health, education, and well-being. Only one of them is obligated to support the child.
If a child is not their next-of-kin, they may not be able to get workplace medical benefits for a child.
In the event the legal parent becomes ill or dies, the surviving partner could lose any ability to be the child's guardian, even though the surviving partner may have been the one who devoted most of their time raising the child.
Same-sex couples want to protect their children by securing legal relationships with both parents.
…
