LEGAL PROTECTION FOR ALL THE CHILDREN: DUTCH-AMERICAN COMIPARISON OF LESBIAN AND GAY PARENT ADOPTIONS Nancy g. Maxwell, Astrid A M. Mattijssen, and Charlene Smith Abstract The purpose of this is to examine the recent developments concerning same-gender parent adoptions in the Ur tates and the Netherlands, comparing the different routes these changes have taken. The first section of the article examines the present status of the case law in both countries. It begins with an analysis of the court decisions in the United States, where case law now makes it legal in numerous states for gays and lesbians to adopt, either as >co-parents=or as >strangers=of the child. The section also includes an analysis of the recent Dutch case before the highest court in the Netherlands, the Hoge Raad, involving a request for a co-parent adoption by two women who were raising their children together as a family. The next section of the article sets out the current status of Dutch law as it affects gay and lesbian co-parents, includ ing present adoption laws, joint parental authority, and registered partnerships. The article=s fourth section examines proposed legislation in the two countries concerning the right of same-gend couples, and homosexuals in general, to adopt. The article then concludes with a comparison and This section examines the differences in the two countries= legal systems, the social statuson ns analysis of the dutch and al gal histories concerning same-gender co-parent adoptio homosexuals, the social acceptance of adoption, and each country=s underlying assumptions about family law. The article concludes by pointing out how recognition of same-gender co- parent adoption is in the best interest of the children raised by same-gender couples Professor Nancy G. Maxwell is a Professor of Law at Washburn University School of Law Topeka, Kansas. She has co-taught comparative family law materials with Astrid Mattijssen for the for the Comparative Family Law class for Washburn Law School=s London Summer School Progan o comparative human rights courses at Washburn Law School, as well as teaching the American materia Astrid A.M. Mattijssen co-authored this article while she was a member of the legal staff of the Clara Wichmann Institute. the academic institute for women and law in the Netherlands. from 1992-98 She also served as a member of the State Committee on Opening-up Civil Marriage for Same-Sex Couples, known as the Kortmann Committee, in 1996-97. Since September 1998, she has been a legal staff member for the Dutch General Prosecutor, where she is responsible for the Expertise Centre on Discrimination ofessor Charlene Smith is a Professor of Law at Washburn University School of Law, Topeka Kansas. Professor Smith and Astrid Mattijssen have coordinated several comparative human rights classes regarding sexual orientation at Washburn Law School. They have also presented materials on discrimination against queers at the International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA) conferences and the 1998 Conference on Trade Unions, Homosexuality, and Work in Amsterdam The authors wish to thank Ineke de hondt. associate professor of private law. Utrecht University, The Netherlands, and Kees Waaldijk, Lecturer in Law, Leiden University, The Netherlands for their thoughtful advice during the writing of this article, as well as Annelies Henstra, PhD Student, Utrecht University, The Netherlands, and Scott Curry, attorney at law, Wichita, Kansas, USA, for their research assistanceLEGAL PROTECTION FOR ALL THE CHILDREN: DUTCH-AMERICAN COMPARISON OF LESBIAN AND GAY PARENT ADOPTIONS Nancy G. Maxwell, Astrid A.M. Mattijssen, and Charlene Smith1 Abstract The purpose of this article is to examine the recent developments concerning same-gender parent adoptions in the Unites States and the Netherlands, comparing the different routes these changes have taken. The first section of the article examines the present status of the case law in both countries. It begins with an analysis of the court decisions in the United States, where case law now makes it legal in numerous states for gays and lesbians to adopt, either as >co-parents= or as >strangers= of the child. The section also includes an analysis of the recent Dutch case before the highest court in the Netherlands, the Hoge Raad, involving a request for a co-parent adoption by two women who were raising their children together as a family. The next section of the article sets out the current status of Dutch law as it affects gay and lesbian co-parents, including present adoption laws, joint parental authority, and registered partnerships. The article=s fourth section examines proposed legislation in the two countries concerning the right of same-gender couples, and homosexuals in general, to adopt. The article then concludes with a comparison and analysis of the Dutch and American legal histories concerning same-gender co-parent adoptions. This section examines the differences in the two countries= legal systems, the social status of homosexuals, the social acceptance of adoption, and each country=s underlying assumptions about family law. The article concludes by pointing out how recognition of same-gender co￾parent adoption is in the best interest of the children raised by same-gender couples. 1 Professor Nancy G. Maxwell is a Professor of Law at Washburn University School of Law, Topeka, Kansas. She has co-taught comparative family law materials with Astrid Mattijssen for the comparative human rights courses at Washburn Law School, as well as teaching the American materials for the Comparative Family Law class for Washburn Law School=s London Summer School Program. Astrid A.M. Mattijssen co-authored this article while she was a member of the legal staff of the Clara Wichmann Institute, the academic institute for women and law in the Netherlands, from 1992-98. She also served as a member of the State Committee on Opening-up Civil Marriage for Same-Sex Couples, known as the Kortmann Committee, in 1996-97. Since September 1998, she has been a legal staff member for the Dutch General Prosecutor, where she is responsible for the Expertise Centre on Discrimination. Professor Charlene Smith is a Professor of Law at Washburn University School of Law, Topeka, Kansas. Professor Smith and Astrid Mattijssen have coordinated several comparative human rights classes regarding sexual orientation at Washburn Law School. They have also presented materials on discrimination against queers at the International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA) conferences and the 1998 Conference on Trade Unions, Homosexuality, and Work in Amsterdam. The authors wish to thank Ineke de Hondt, Associate Professor of Private Law, Utrecht University, The Netherlands, and Kees Waaldijk, Lecturer in Law, Leiden University, The Netherlands, for their thoughtful advice during the writing of this article, as well as Annelies Henstra, PhD Student, Utrecht University, The Netherlands, and Scott Curry, attorney at law, Wichita, Kansas, USA, for their research assistance