Rights of Stepparents

The legal rights of a stepparent is a touchy subject. It used to be that a stepparent came into the picture after the death of a biological parent. In today's society, this type of blended family is occurring more often as a result of divorce (Sailor, 2004, p.89). Mason has stated that 20% of children will live with a stepparent at some point (1999). Stepparents come into a child's life at different points. Some are there when the child is first born and some come during the teen years. Despite how long or emotionally attached one may be to their stepchild, they have little to no legal rights over the child.

Mason cited a case in Georgia where a man had helped raise his stepdaughter from infancy. Her mother died when she was 8-years-old. The stepfather sought custody, however, was denied when her biological father came back into the picture after a seven year absence (1999). Despite his emotional attachment, he had no legal rights. However, a stepfather is expected to financially support his stepdaughter (Sailor, 2004, p.91).

The only way a stepparent can have any legal rights over a stepchild is if they adopt. This is difficult is there are two biological parents living (Mason, 1999). A stepparent cannot sign any emergency forms or permission slips. They can, however, "carry a special consent-for-treatment form signed by the parent enabling he stepparent t sign for emergency medical treatment or the child" (Sailor, 2004, p.91). This is very important, especially if the stepparent is the only adult available in an emergency situation.

In my opinion, a stepparent should be able to have some legal and medical rights over a stepchild. My stepfather came into my life when I was 14. He was more readily available during school hours than my mother and needed to have some rights if anything would have happened to me. My cousin is in the process of adopting his stepdaughter. She is the only father she has ever known in her four years of life. Her father has not been around since she was born and if her mother could not be reached in an emergency situation, then she might receive treatment too late. Given that there is a negative view of stepparents, it is hard to decide legal rights. Movies like Cinderella have made it hard to accept that blended families can be very loving (Sailor, 2004, p. 89). However, if the biological parents and the stepparents can manage to come to an agreement, then some legal and medical rights should be given to the stepparent. Overall, it is up to each individual family.

References

1. Mason, M.A. (August 30 1999). Fostering family. The New Republic. 221(9), 14-16.

1. Sailor, D. (2004). Supporting children in their home, school, and community. Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.