Beyond Two: Creative Legal Strategies for Multi-Parent Family Recognition

Megan Mars, Esq.

Attorney at Trachman Law Center

Just this month, the Supreme Court, which is comprised of a majority conservative justices, declined to revisit the issue of same-sex marriage. As marriage is the legal foundation that confers and protects parental rights, the importance of the Supreme Court’s decision cannot be overstated. The Court’s choice not to hear the case makes sense as a reflection of public opinion. A July 2023 New York Times/Siena poll reflected that 70% of Americans support same-sex marriage, and this is not limited to blue states. A Public Religion Research Institute poll updated in 2024 found that a majority of Americans in every state supported same-sex marriage.

While acceptance of same-sex marriage and gay parents is clear, that is not the case for families with more than two parental figures, whether through polyamorous relationships, platonic co-parenting, extended kinship networks, or blended families. Securing legal recognition for a third (or, in some cases, a fourth) parent can be challenging across the country, though not entirely impossible.

Multi-parentage rights laws are not widely recognized in the United States, but there are exceptions to this general rule, as well as a handful of legal frameworks that are supportive. The traditional view, which is enshrined into the laws of most states, has been that a child has only two legal parents. If a child has, for example, two moms and a dad, these parents may be acting as parents unofficially, but all three parents may not be legally recognized as parents of the child by the state. Thus, nontraditional families residing in states that strictly uphold the recognition of only two legal parents leave essential parental figures virtually unprotected.

Unfortunately, without legal parentage, a parent who is active in a child’s life, but is not legally recognized, will not have adequate legal standing for a variety of important decisions, including emergency medical decisions, educational planning, religious or cultural upbringing, travel authorizations, and custody arrangements, in addition to the child’s ability to receive government benefits (e.g., Social Security or survivorship payments).

The Legal Landscape

California pioneered explicit multi-parent recognition in 2013 with Family Code Section 7612(c): “…a court may find that more than two persons with a claim to parentage under this division are parents if the court finds that recognizing only two parents would be detrimental to the child…” The statute allows for multiple legal parents if it is in the best interests of the child, which is quite a large departure from the “two-parent presumption” that still dictates legal parenthood in most states. A small number of other states, including Connecticut, Maine, Vermont, and Washington, have similar statutes.

In Washington, D.C., a child can have more than two legal parents through a legal framework called “de facto parenthood”. This framework enables a third parent to seek custody if they meet certain conditions, including, but not limited to, if the third parent has lived with the child for 10 of the 12 months prior to the filing of the custody petition, has formed a strong emotional bond with the child with the intent of forming a child-parent relationship, or has taken on full and permanent responsibilities as the child’s parent.

Massachusetts took a significant step forward in August 2021 when the Massachusetts Registry of Vital Records and Statistics issued its first three-parent birth certificate, following years of courts legally recognizing three-parent family structures through adoption. And on January 1, 2025, the Massachusetts Parentage Act took effect, updating the state’s parentage laws to better reflect diverse family structures. Under the new law, courts may recognize more than two legal parents if multiple individuals have claims to parentage and if acknowledging more than two parents serves the child’s best interests, providing important legal protections for intentional multi-parent families.

A few jurisdictions are without protective statutes, but have published case law acknowledging that a child’s best interests may require legally recognizing the reality of their family structure.

New York courts have acknowledged legal parenthood for more than two parents for children born naturally and through reproductive technology. In September 2025, the Kings County Supreme Court granted legal parentage to three individuals (E.D., E.K., and R.N.) in Baby D.K.N for a child conceived through in vitro fertilization (IVF). In this case, petitioners all lived together and decided to conceive a child. Petitioner E.D. provided the egg, Petitioner R.N. provided the sperm, and Petitioner E.K. gestated the child. The court determined that all three petitioners qualified as “intended parents” under Article 5-C of New York’s Family Court Act (also known as the Child Parent Security Act). The court applied Section 581-303 of the statute, which establishes that anyone “who provides gametes for, or who consents to, assisted reproduction with the intent to be a parent of the child” is legally a parent for all purposes. Since all three individuals had memorialized their mutual agreement to conceive and parent the child together through affidavits, and each either provided genetic material or carried the pregnancy with the intent to be a legal parent, the court found they all met the statutory requirements for parentage. This is the first case of its kind under New York’s Child Parent Security Act, establishing precedent for legal recognition of three-parent families through an intent-based, rather than a best interests-based, analysis.

New York has also recognized the rights of three parents in cases without reproductive technology. The 2017 Suffolk County appellate decision in Dawn M. v. Michael M. awarded “tri-custody” to all three parents of a child conceived naturally by two of the parents. Since the court established that there was overwhelming evidence that the parties agreed to raise the child together before conception, and the third parent lived with the rest of the family and had developed a strong bond with the child, the decision was in the child’s best interests.

There are other strategies some cities and states have employed outside of statutes and case law. For instance, Florida does not have statute recognizing a third parent, but there have been cases where a third parent is added at the bottom of a parentage petition as part of a best interests analysis.

Additionally, local protections have been put into place in cities across the country, most recently in Berkeley and Oakland, California, which establish nondiscrimination protections for diverse families and intimate relationships (e.g., housing, business establishments and public services). While these protections do not create parentage rights directly, they may provide legal cover and legitimacy by reducing stigma. Similarly, in 2020 and 2021, Somerville and Cambridge, Massachusetts each respectively approved an ordinance allowing for the registration of domestic partnerships with more than two partners.

However, it is worth noting that federal recognition of multi-parent families remains limited. When Congress passed the Respect for Marriage Act in 2022, the legislation explicitly clarified that marriage is between two individuals, a provision included to address concerns about the law potentially endorsing polygamous relationships. This federal limitation means that while states like Massachusetts or California can recognize three-parent families for parentage purposes, multi-parent family structures still lack broader federal protections available to two parent households.

Other Creative Approaches

Business Entity Strategies:

Some attorneys are using a Limited Liability Company approach for multi-parent families. Applying the structure of LLCs creates a container that allows families to hold property jointly, share health insurance plans, file taxes collectively and create enforceable agreements about parental roles and financial responsibilities.

Contractual Frameworks:

Comprehensive co-parenting agreements can establish a variety of important considerations that have a real impact on families. Contractual agreements can cover decision-making authority for medical, educational, and religious matters; financial contributions and responsibilities; custody and visitation arrangements; and dispute resolution mechanisms. 

Estate Planning & Legal Documentation:

Powers of Attorney can be helpful for managing finances and healthcare by appointing agents to act on a legal parent’s behalf. Additionally, detailed Last Will and Testaments and trust structures can all provide security for children while recognizing multiple parental figures as beneficiaries or decision-makers.

Looking Forward

Legal recognition is not just about paperwork. It’s about protecting a child’s relationships with the adults who care for them who they view as parents. When multi-parent families lack legal protection, children and parents who are not legally recognized are placed in a vulnerable situation.

If you need help protecting your family, please reach out and book a free consultation with us. We can help you safeguard your rights and suggest creative strategies even if you do not live in a state with a supportive law on the books.