Adoption.

Existing law establishes procedures for stepparent adoptions involving a spouse or partner who gave birth to the child during the marriage or domestic partnership. Among other things, existing law exempts those adoptions from the requirements of a home investigation and a hearing, as well as specified costs, unless the court orders otherwise. This bill would allow a stepparent adoption in which the child was born during the marriage or domestic partnership through a gestational surrogacy process brought about by one or both spouses or partners to use the same procedure as a stepparent adoption in which one of the spouses or partners gave birth to the child during the marriage or domestic partnership. Under existing law, the existing parents of an adopted child are, from the time of the adoption, relieved of all parental duties toward, and have no right over, the adopted child, unless the existing parent or parents and the prospective adoptive parent or parents sign a waiver before the finalization of the adoption. This bill would provide that the waiver provision described above applies to all adoptions except intercountry adoptions, as specified. Existing law also terminates the parental rights and responsibilities of the birth parent or parents of an adult who is adopted, except that when an adult is adopted by a stepparent, the legal relationship between the adult and the birth parent who is the spouse of the stepparent is not terminated. This bill would allow an adult who is being adopted to waive the termination of the legal relationship between the adult and an existing parent or parents by signing a waiver before the finalization of the adoption.