The ACLU of Virginia sued on behalf of four children adopted by same-sex couples after the Virginia Department of Vital Records refused to issue new birth certificates listing both of the children’s adoptive parents.

The children were born in Virginia, but adopted by same-sex couples in the District of Columbia and New York. NCLR assisted Professor Joan Hollinger, one of the nation’s foremost scholars on adoption law, in filing an amicus brief supporting the children’s right to obtain accurate birth certificates. In April 2005, the Virginia Supreme Court held that the Department of Vital Records must issue birth certificates listing both adoptive parents, regardless of whether the adopted parents are different-sex or same-sex.