Featured in the RNE Magazine, 2022 Volume 3
By Meredith Wheeler
In the spring of 2020 when the Rhode Island legislature passed the Parentage Act, my wife and I were only a few months into a pregnancy we hoped would bring us our long-awaited baby.
Over the nearly 5 years we tried to conceive, the challenges of establishing legal ties to our child – especially for my wife as a non-biological, non-gestational parent – hung over our heads.
After the costs of infertility treatment, we constantly worried where the money would come from to hire a lawyer to usher us through the lengthy, complicated, and expensive process of a second parent adoption.
Early in 2020, we decided to take action. Andi had the opportunity to testify with Rhode Islanders for Parentage Equality (RIPE) and Resolve New England in support of the Rhode Island Uniform Parentage Act and to tell our family’s story.