Father And Son Marry: A Gay Man Has Married His Adopted Son In Pennsylvania

A father and son have gotten married in Pennsylvania. The gay couple, who have lived as father and son for the past four years, tied the knot last week after a Pennsylvania court allowed the men to dissolve their father-son relationship so they could live as married partners instead, The Independent is reporting.

Roland Bosee Jr, 79, legally adopted Nino Espositom 69, in 2012. At the time, gay marriage was not legal in Pennsylvania, so the two men did something that was not unusual before gay marriage became legal: the older man adopted the younger man as a procedural move to protect themselves legally.

If the government would not recognize them as a married couple, the thinking went, then one partner would legally adopt the other one so the government would recognize them as parent and child. This would offer some legal protections for the couple, such as protecting inheritance or making end-of-life decisions.

For Ronald and Nino, who have been a couple since the 1970s according to Pink News, their status as father and son caused them some trouble once gay marriage became legal in Pennsylvania. Because the state already considered them father and son, they couldn’t legally get married unless their adoption was dissolved. Unfortunately, Pennsylvania doesn’t have a legal process for dissolving an adoption except in the case of fraud. Since there was no fraud at play when Roland adopted Nino, Judge Lawrence O’Toole ruled that there was nothing that could be done. The two men would have to continue living as father and son, at least legally.

The couple appealed, and a three-judge panel of Pennsylvania’s Orphans’ Court allowed them to dissolve their adoption so they can proceed with their marriage.

“Pennsylvania law regarding same sex marriage [has] changed; same-sex couples in this Commonwealth may now exercise their fundamental right to marry. Therefore, where a same-sex couple, who previously obtained an adult adoption, now seeks to annul or revoke the adoption in order to marry, the Orphans’ court has the authority to annul or revoke the adult adoption.”

After the ruling, the happy couple said they were “relieved” at the “wonderful Christmas gift.”

According to Legal Zoom, it’s not all that uncommon for adults to be adopted. As mentioned above, it used to be quite common for one partner in a gay couple to adopt the other, although often one adult will adopt another absent of a romantic relationship, but for the same general reasons.

“The most common reason to adopt an adult is for inheritance purposes. In this case, adult adoption allows someone to leave property or financial assets to the adopted individual more easily.”

Similarly, adults have tracked down long-lost biological parents (or biological parents have tracked down their long-lost children) and have sought adoption to formalize their relationships. Also, it’s not uncommon for people with diminished mental capacity, such as individuals with developmental disabilities or individuals suffering from dementia or Alzheimer’s Disease, to be adopted by a family member or caregiver in order to make it easier to handle legal issues.

Back in Pennsylvania, the former father and son say they plan to keep their wedding celebration relatively low-key, says Nino.

“I’m sure some friends and family will want to do something. But at our age, we’re not worrying about ceremonies.”

As of this writing, it is not clear how many other instances there have been of a gay couple, in which one partner adopted the other, have had their adoptions dissolved so they can marry.

[Featured Image by Syda Productions/Shutterstock]