California Bill Would Allow A Child More Than 2 Parents

LOS ANGELES (CBS) — A California lawmaker wants children to be able to have more than two parents.

SB 1476, introduced by Sen. Mark Leno of San Francisco, is not meant to expand the definition of who can qualify as a parent, only to eliminate the limit of two per child, the Sacramento Bee reported.

Current law allows a parent to be a man who signs a voluntary declaration of paternity, or a man who was married and living with a child's mother, or who took a baby into his home and represented the child as his own, according to the Bee.

SB 1476 would allow for a third person to take on the legal role of a parent in a variety of circumstances, including a lesbian couple and the child's biological father or a divorced couple and a new spouse.

The bill stemmed from an appellate court case in 2011 involving a child's biological mother, her same-sex partner and a man who had an affair with the biological mother, according to the Bee.

The Bee says SB 1476 makes a child's best interest a priority by allowing a judge discretion to recognize multiple parents if doing so is not only beneficial but required for the child's well-being.