Protecting Your LGBTQ+ Family in 2026
A new year offers new motivation to set goals and make changes. For LGBTQ+ families, one of the most important goals should be to ensure our parent-child relationships are as legally secure as possible.
Legal experts have long noted that in LGBTQ+ families formed via assisted reproduction, non-gestational parents' legal relationships to their children may still be questioned even if they are married and on their children's birth certificates. Birth certificates are key documents that reflect parentage, but do not by themselves legally establish it. Additionally, while for heterosexual couples, all states presume any children born during a marriage are children of both spouses, and this presumption should extend to same-sex couples after the U.S. Supreme Court decisions in Obergefell (2015) and Pavan (2017), a few state trial courts have ruled otherwise.
That means that LGBTQ+ families need to take additional steps to secure the parentage of non-gestational parents. Polly Crozier, director of family advocacy at GLAD Law, said in an interview that LGBTQ+ parents "should be doing anything they can to take some action" to protect themselves and their children. She advises that they do as much as their resources allow to legally secure their parentage, which could mean going through an adoption process, getting a parentage judgment in court, or signing a voluntary acknowledgement of parentage (VAP).
VAPs are simple, free forms that can be completed at the hospital immediately after a birth (or later) to establish legal parentage. All states have long been required by federal law to have such forms for different-sex couples, but they are now also available to LGBTQ+ couples of any genders in 15 states: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington, though details vary by state. A VAP is the equivalent of a court decree of parentage and should therefore be recognized in all states, although VAPs have not yet been tested in court for LGBTQ+ parents. (Visit GLAD Law's "FAQ: Voluntary Acknowledgment of Parentage," at gladlaw.org, for more information.)
And parents whose name, gender, or parental status is incorrectly listed on their children's birth certificates (say, a transgender parent who transitioned after a child's birth) may wish to get an adoption or court order to "address any room for confusion," per "Protecting Your LGBTQ+ Marriage and Family," a guide from GLAD Law, the National Center for LGBTQ Rights, COLAGE, the Movement Advancement Project, and Family Equality.
Additionally, Crozier recommends that all LGBTQ+ parents should do estate plans. "You should have a simple will with guardianship provisions, a healthcare proxy, and a power of attorney," she explained. "I think it is a really important time to get your ducks in order and make sure that you have clearly stated your intent and your wishes regarding your children and your families, because those documents should work no matter what, and every state has estate planning documents."
Protecting our families also means doing our part to respect and protect other LGBTQ+ families. Crozier urged that if a parents' relationship fractures, "Don't use this political time to get the upper hand in a personal situation. Having been a divorce lawyer, I know that adult relationships break down," she said. "I would encourage everybody to just commit to your children, take a breath, and not use inequalities in the law or the current environment against your former partner."
Lawsuits in several states last year, including Georgia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, unfortunately revolved around just that type of situation: an LGBTQ+ parent trying to claim a former spouse or partner wasn't a legal parent. The Georgia and Pennsylvania courts both ruled in favor of the non-gestational mother's parental rights, but the Ohio case is still pending. Similar cases have been happening for decades, however, and when the rulings have gone against the non-gestational parent, they have sometimes had wider negative implications for other LGBTQ+ parents and their children.
As Crozier said, "You can argue all you want that your partner shouldn't have custody or parenting time, but don't argue that they're not a parent. That is such a different thing."
We cannot know exactly what 2026 will bring, but it seems reasonable to predict that it will continue to be a challenging time for LGBTQ+ families. Resources exist to help, however. For answers to frequently asked questions about LGBTQ+ parentage and the options that may be available to you, see "LGBTQ Paths to Parentage Security," a brief guide from GLAD Law and myself, at lgbtqparentage.org.
If you have further questions or need an attorney, GLAD Law and several other major LGBTQ+ legal organizations have helplines that offer free and confidential referrals, assistance, and information: GLAD Law Answers Legal InfoLine (gladlaw.org), Lambda Legal's Help Desk (lambdalegal.org), the National Center for LGBTQ Rights Legal Information Hotline (nclrights.org), and the Transgender Law Center (transgenderlawcenter.org). Additionally, the National LGBTQ+ Bar Association (lgbtqbar.org) maintains a Family Law Attorney Directory of experienced LGBTQ+ family law practitioners. Crozier noted that many lawyers are willing to help at a reasonable cost.
Yes, having to take extra steps to protect one's family can be burdensome and feel unfair. For the moment, though, it is necessary. Make it your 2026 resolution to do so, if you haven't already—but also know that you are a family in your hearts no matter what.
Dana Rudolph is the founder and publisher of Mombian (mombian.com), a two-time GLAAD Media Award-winning blog for LGBTQ+ parents, plus a searchable database of 1,900+ LGBTQ+ family books.