Her adult daughter, the mother of this child, suffers from mental illness and is unable to parent the child in a loving, age-appropriate way. The National Family Resiliency Center works with countless same-gender couples where one parent is denied access to their child after a separation because the parent hadn't formally adopted them. The severed relationship intensely pains both child and parent. The lack of protection for non-legalized caregivers' rights has interrupted loving and beneficial relationships between caregivers and children, denied caregivers visitation and custody agreements, and broken children's hearts. As a therapist directing a center for families in transition and working with a continuum of co-parents, from those who are highly cooperative to those who are highly conflictual, I believe broadening the definition of "parent" is critical.

Source: Huffington Post September 13, 2016 16:41 UTC