Summer is prime travel time here in the U. S. Travel—especially with kids—always goes more smoothly with a little advance planning. Here’s some advice that may help:
- The American Academy of Pediatrics has a good list of travel safety tips.
- If you’re a U. S. citizen traveling abroad, remember that all children, even infants, must have valid passports in their own names. It’s wise to read over the U. S. State Department’s Special Requirements for Children Under 14. You’ll learn, for example, that if there are two legal parents, both must be present at the time of passport application, or one parent must present a signed, notarized form from the other.
- Note also that some countries, such as Mexico, require notarized consent from the absent parent if a minor is traveling with only one of two legal parents. Again, the State Department site has more information.
- As LGBT parents, it’s also smart to travel with copies of medical power-of-attorney documents, living wills, children’s birth certificates, court parentage judgements, and any other related documents. (Note that the National Center for Lesbian Rights warns that if you live in a jurisdiction like California (or New Jersey), and the state lets you put both your names on your child’s birth certificate without an adoption, you may still need to obtain a court judgement of parentage to avoid problems when traveling out of state. Check with your own attorney on this, of course.)
Bon voyage!
I would add that if your child only has 1 legal parent, the US Dept of State will require “proof” of that- either the birth certificate must have only that legal parent’s name on it -or- you must provide other documentation (such as a court order granting sole custody) showing there is only 1 legal parent. As a side note, it really peeves me off that one parent has to be listed as “father” and one as “mother” on the child’s application…
Good points, all. Yes, it’s clearly inappropriate for us to be filling out forms with “mother” and “father.” I remember crossing out a lot of titles like this on medical forms when we had our son. “Parent” and “Parent” is a clean, understandable, universal alternative. In the meantime, think of it as an opportunity to educate a government worker. :-)
We haven’t had anyone question our son’s parentage for some time, even when we cross the US-Canada border a fair amount, but we always carry his passport, birth certificate (with both our names as Parent 1 and Parent 2), and adoption decree just in case.
Of course, there was one time we weren’t sure that would even be enough. On our first trip to Canada with our then under-2 son (and no passport yet-not that it would have made a difference), the check-in attendant, with his birth certificate in hand, informed us we needed a letter from the father permitting us to take our son out of the country. I explained that this was impossible, patiently pointed out that the parents listed on the birth certificate matched the two adults standing there, and walked her through the adoption decree (including the fact that the father is “legally unascertainable”). She still wasn’t convinced and called a supervisor.
Luckily, the supervisor quickly skimmed the birth certificate and adoption decree, asked the check-in attendant what exactly she didn’t get, and said everything was in order.
[...] Regardless of how or why you travel, it’s wise to review these travel tips for LGBT families. [...]