Confirmatory Adoption

Recognizing and Protecting Every Legal Parent Under AB 227

Some families are already legal families— they just need the law to say so clearly and permanently.

In 2025, Nevada enacted AB 227, modernizing adoption law to reflect how families are formed today. One of its most important reforms was the creation of Confirmatory Adoption.

This process gives parents who are already their child’s legal parents a clear, enforceable adoption order that is recognized in Nevada, nationwide, and internationally.

Attorney Shelly Booth Cooley helped draft and pass AB 227 and now guides families through confirmatory adoption quickly, correctly, and with dignity.

What Is a Confirmatory Adoption?

A confirmatory adoption (sometimes called a second-parent or co-parent adoption) is used when parents are already the child’s legal parents, such as through:

  • Assisted reproduction

  • Gestational surrogacy

  • A prior court order

  • Marital or statutory parentage presumptions

  • Parentage recognition from another state or country

The adoption does not transfer or terminate parental rights.

Instead, it confirms and secures the existing parent-child relationship through a court order that is universally recognized.

Why Confirmatory Adoption Matters

Even when parentage is already established, families often choose confirmatory adoption for added protection.

Important:
A birth certificate is an administrative record—not a court order.
It is not entitled to full faith and credit in other states.

Benefits of Confirmatory Adoption

  • Nationwide and international recognition
    (passports, Social Security, schools, travel)

  • Judicial confirmation of parentage
    A court order carries more legal weight than a birth certificate.

  • Protection if you move or travel
    Especially important for LGBTQ+ families and ART families.

  • Clear inheritance and parental rights
    In every jurisdiction.

  • Peace of mind
    Protection against future legal challenges to parentage.

Confirmatory adoption acts as a legal safety net for modern families.

How AB 227 Changed Nevada Law

Before AB 227, Nevada law did not clearly address confirmatory adoptions. Families were often forced into unnecessary and ill-fitting adoption procedures.

AB 227 (83rd Legislative Session, 2025) fixed that.

Key Reforms Under AB 227

  • Created Confirmatory Adoption as a distinct legal category

  • Eliminated unnecessary investigations and reports
    when petitioners are already legal parents

  • Clarified that parental rights do not need to be terminated

  • Streamlined the process for domestic and international families

  • Allowed summary disposition
    (finalization without a hearing when requirements are met)

These changes align Nevada with national best practices in family-building law.