Utah AG Gets His Wish, Adoptions Halted for Same-Sex Couples

Utah's attorney general has successfully stopped same-sex couples from adopting children while marriage equality is under review in the courts.

The Desert Newsreports that Attorney general Sean Reyes had been confronted this week by 3rd District Judge Andrew Stone, who threatened to hold health department officials in contempt for refusing to amend a child's birth certificate with the names of both mothers, Kimberly and Amber Leary. But the attorney general's office announced on Saturday that the Utah Supreme Court issued a stay in this and other cases so the state no longer must comply, at least not until a ruling comes down on the constitutionality of Utah's marriage ban.

More than 1,300 couples were married in Utah during a brief window when the marriage ban was struck down by a judge who refused to delay his ruling from taking effect. A stay was later granted by a higher court. But in the interim, couples like the Learys were left in limbo, with the state refusing to recognize their marriages even though the federal government does.

Timing on a marriage ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals is unclear.