Step-Parent Adoptions + Parentage Orders

For lesbian couples in Ohio building their families through sperm donation, and in light of the recent Dobbs decision overturning Roe v Wade, the best protection is to obtain a step-parent adoption or parentage order.

A birth certificate is only an administrative document. 

Whether a step-parent adoption or parentage order is pursued depends on the applicable Ohio county and process there. 

A step-parent adoption requires that the parents be married. There is no mechanism for a second parent — when parents are not married — adoption in Ohio.