Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

For Nevada family, measure to allow multiparent adoption hits home

Nevada Adoption Laws

Courtesy Devon Reese

From left to right, Felipe Cisneros, Devon Reese and their three children KJ, Max and Thomas Reese. Reese and his ex-wife, Emily, had wanted Cisneros to adopt the children as a third parent before Emily’s death, but Nevada law does not allow more than two legal parents.

CARSON CITY — The last gift Felipe Cisneros Jr. opened on Christmas Day 2019 was a card from his husband’s teenage children. Inside was a simple message: Adopt us.

When Cisneros married Devon Reese in 2013, he became an unofficial parent to Reese’s three children, whom he had with his ex-wife, Emily.

The former couple long wanted Cisneros to formally adopt the children, but Nevada law stipulates that children can have only two legal parents. If Cisneros was one of their legal guardians, either the biological mother or father would lose parental rights.

But Nevada could be on its way to approving multiparent adoptions, as a proposal at the Nevada Legislature would allow more than two parents to be listed as legal guardians, a measure that proponents say will allow nontraditional families more legal recognition.

Reese and his wife divorced in 2009 after 14 years of marriage and were amicable co-parents, Reese said. After the divorce, Emily was diagnosed with cancer. She died in 2018.

“This is what (Emily) would have wanted and, in fact, did want during her lifetime,” said Reese, who serves on the Reno City Council.

Assembly Bill 155, introduced by Assemblywoman Rochelle Nguyen, D-Las Vegas, wouldn’t only affect the LGBTQ community — it’s also important for traditional families.

“If, God forbid, anything happened to me and my husband … if there were multiple family members that wanted to take equal parenting responsibility, I want them to be able to do that,” Nguyen said. “I want that for my kids.”

Emily Reese had referred to her family as a “rainbow family,” her ex-husband said. They had three children before Devon Reese came out as gay.

Emily and Cisneros became close while co-parenting the children, driving them to athletic practice and school events for years — all while Emily was going for cancer treatment.

They would even spend the holidays together.

“We were trying to get through those experiences as best we could,” Reese said.

“It wasn’t always perfect. Sometimes it was messy and sad, but it in the end, it was a very beautiful family.”

Any measure expanding multiparent adoption rights is about providing “love and stability” in families, which come in many different types due to divorce, grandparents’ involvement in raising children or other situations, Reese said.

The law is not able to “understand” the sometimes-changing nature of family relationships, which can affect issues including parental rights on medical and educational decisions, he said.

Cisneros, only after Emily Reese’s death, adopted the children in 2020. It was mostly a formality, considering the children — Thomas, 18; KJ, 19; and Max, 21 — are adults.

“I think the bill probably will not affect an enormous amount of people, but for those it does affect, it affects them very significantly and impacts them in ways that perhaps not everyone thinks about,” he said.

California, Oregon, Washington and Massachusetts already have laws allowing for more than two parents to legally adopt a child. The proposal doesn’t limit the number of parents who could theoretically adopt a child, but Nguyen said that it’s a “common sense” limit.

“Probably no court is going to allow 15 people to coparent a child,” she said. “I don’t think that’s in the best interests of the child.”

The bill unanimously passed through the Assembly Judiciary Committee on March 12 but has had no movement since. That committee includes multiple Republicans. There appears to be no staunch opposition.