I have some questions I'm hoping you can help answer

Welcome to the forums! 1 - When a child is adopted, they are indeed given an amended birth certificate that lists the adoptive parents instead of the biological parents. This certificate replaces the original certificate in all locations. The original one is sealed and inaccessible Any inquiry for the child's birth certificate will get you the new one, it is not possible to get the old one. (Except in a very few cases it can be accessed by a lengthy process involving a court order.) 2 - Whether a gay couple can adopt a child depends on the particular state's laws. In some states, a gay couple can adopt a child together. In other states, one gay person can adopt a child and then the other half of the couple can either be added to the birth certificate or otherwise be given parental rights equal to the adoptive parent's. In still other states, one gay person can adopt a child and the other half of the couple is treated essentially like a step parent. And in the remaining states, if you are gay you can not adopt at all. 3 - Placement with the adoptive family can happen immediately after birth, and the adoptive parents begin parenting the child immediately. The legalities of actually *adopting* that child can take any length of time from a few weeks to 6 or 12 months, depending on the laws of the state (and whether the right paperwork gets filed on time, that sort of thing). But when the child is placed immediately after birth, the legality of the actual adoption is a legality and does not affect who gets to actually make parenting decisions or anything else of importance. (Whenever the adoption happens is when the amended birth certificate is issued and when it replaces the original.) 4 - In many cases, the court just picks which name shows up where. Sometimes the couple gets to pick, sometimes it just gets assigned. It's the same form as everybody gets, so yeah, one of them is called "mother" and the other called "father" on the birth certificate regardless of their actual genders. I hope this helps. Unfortunately, I doubt it will help you find your cousin's brother. The year the adoption happened will affect some answers, too. For instance, if you're looking for a 30 year old, then two gay men definately would not have been able to adopt him together! Laws have changed since then. And if you're looking for a 60 year old, even the place of the child's birth and the child's birthdate may have been changed on his amended birth certificate. So when you have additional questions, the year of birth/adoption will be an important piece of information. I wish you success!

Wow that's some great information. Thank you. The adoptee is 41 years old now. So does that mean he couldn't have been adopted by a gay couple? It took place in Ohio. And if you could clarify more about the amended birth cert, if I go to the Ohio birth index right now I can find the name he was given by his birth parents "Robert R Bryant" and I can see his birthday and his mothers maiden name. I'm trying to find out if the amended birth certificate information is on the same birth index. Does that make sense?

Ya there is certain criteria for adopting the children.You have to take a proper authority from the social department of the government.

Allowing a gay couple to adopt a child together as if they were a traditional, married, man-and-woman couple takes some serious acceptance of homosexuality. I don't think Ohio has that level of acceptance even today in 2012, I can't imagine they had it back in 1971! Remember that for an adoption to happen, it has to be approved of - and not stopped - by dozens of people. Maybe, just maybe, a single man who was gay adopted a child in 1971 and even though a few people might have known he was gay, and maybe even that he had a partner, if nobody acknowledged it out loud it might have happened. But only as a single parent adoption. Can't imagine it happening as a gay couple. The level of acceptance just wasn't there. Maybe someone else with more direct information of Ohio in 1971 will chime in here. The question makes sense, but since I am not familiar with birth indexes that have any direct connection to birth certificates, then I can't answer your question. Yes, "Robert Bryant" is on a birth index. But I doubt you can find his birth certificate. It was sealed by the courts. "Michael Brown" (or whatever he was named by his adoptive parents) will have a birth certificate with that name, but this name is probably not going to be on any birth index. Hope that helps!

What I know is your question if gay couples can adopt a child. Its possible depending what state they are in. Legally-married same-sex partners enjoy the same tax benefits as traditional married partners, but only as they relate to the income tax charged by their states. Not so with regards to federal income tax. However, in a strange twist of the tax code, that very exclusion may actually give them an advantage on the subject of the "[URL="http://personalmoneynetwork.com/moneyblog/2013/02/26/second-parent-adoption-credit/"]second parent adoption credit[/URL]."

My cousin and his brother were reunited a short while back. I was from the help of several adoption angels and their information. Thank you all so much.

You say the adoptee is 41 years old, which is the same age my son whom I surrendered to adoption is. Take it from me, there is no way on earth your friend would have been legally adopted by two gay men back in 1972. The courts and adoption agencies weren't even allowing single people to adopt yet, much less gays and lesbians. Back in that time period, just about all babies were adopted by married couples. Adoption was the "answer" to illegitimacy -- that is how so many young girls and women were convinced to give their newborns up for adoption. We all were told the line that our children would be so much better off being raised by married couples with maturity and financial stability on their side.