“Father and Son” Vacate Adoption so they can get Married to each other.

What steps would you go through to be with the one you love?  We all wish there were not any hurdles separating two hearts from being together forever, but legal issues seem to make love a messy thing.  One couple has been together for about 50 years have been partners, father and son, and soon to be husband and husband.

When Bill Novak and Norman MacArthur moved to the Philadelphia suburbs nearly 20 years ago, they were dismayed to learn that Pennsylvania would not recognize their domestic partnership from New York.

So, in 2000, Novak adopted MacArthur – two years his junior – as his son. The move reduced their inheritance tax liability and gave them hospital visitation and other legal rights then unavailable to same-sex couples.

'We were told when we started to look into this that hell would freeze over before Pennsylvania allowed same-sex marriage,' said MacArthur, now 76. 'So doing the adoption was literally the only thing we could do to give legal underpinning to our relationship.' – DailyMail.co.uk

No, this wasn't the daddy / son relationship many seek out. It was a means to an end, giving them both legal rights within their new state of residence.  I had never heard of this before, but apparently the legal adoption of your partner for legal reasons is not so uncommon.  Do you know of anyone that has gone this route?

There are no statistics on the number of gay couples who have used adoption as a means to obtain legal recognition of their relationships. 

But the practice had been controversial within the gay community, said Angela Giampolo, a Philadelphia attorney specializing in lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender law. – DailyMail.co.uk

This must have to be more common than we think.  Novak adopted MacArthur back in 2000, so there has to be other couples that have taken on this possibly more taboo type of relationship than same-sex marriage.

MacArthur said his status as Novak's legal son did not change the dynamics of their relationship in any way. Friends and family greeted it with a shrug, he said.

About 30 of the couple's friends were in the courtroom last week when the judge, noting rapid acceptance of same-sex marriage nationally, agreed to vacate the adoption.

'The courtroom burst into applause. I burst into tears,' MacArthur recalled. 'They were certainly happy tears. 

'After months of investigating ways that we could do this and finally having the decision coming down in our favor, I'm still walking 3 feet above the ground.'

He said he knows of several gay couples who went through the adoption process, and Clemons is representing one other couple who is petitioning to vacate the adoption so they can marry.

Novak, 78, and MacArthur have already gotten a marriage license and plan to wed soon. –  DailyMail.co.uk

So after living legally as "father and son" for 15 years, we will all get to raise a toast to Bill and Norman whom can now be legally married as husbands in their new state.  Congrats men!