Same-sex adoption is finally legal in all 50 states

Following the demise of a Mississippi law that was the last in the country to ban gay and lesbian couples from adoption, same-sex couples now legally have the right to adopt a child in every state across the nation.

“Mississippi was the last state in the nation that prohibited adoption by gay couples, so in all 50 states, gay couples are allowed to adopt kids, as it should be,” laywer Roberta Kaplan told BuzzFeed. “As far as the state is concerned, gay couples and their kids can’t be treated differently than anyone else.”

The Mississippi law was blocked by a federal judge in March this year, who ruled that the ban was out of line with the Supreme Court’s decision last year legalizing same-sex marriage nationally. The deadline for the state to appeal the judge’s decision passed at midnight last night.

“It also seems highly unlikely that the same court that held a state cannot ban gay marriage because it would deny benefits—expressly including the right to adopt—would then conclude that married gay couples can be denied that very same benefit,” US District Judge Daniel Jordan wrote in his ruling.

Two of the plaintiffs in the case challenging the state law were Susan Hrostowski and Kathryn Garner, mothers of a 16-year-old boy. “For us, the feeling and the way we have operated as a family have never been impacted by this law,” said Hrostowski in a statement after the ruling in March. “But to have this ruling and to be able to start the adoption proceedings tomorrow means everything to me. There is no greater joy on this planet than to have him as my son and for the world to understand, appreciate and affirm that he is my son. It means everything.”

Same-sex couples had been unable to adopt in Mississippi since 2000, The Washington Post reported.