Adopted ‘Father’ and ‘Son’ to Marry

Pennsylvania couple Bill Novak and Norman MacArthur are legally adopted father and son, but soon they will marry. The couple of more than 50 years registered as domestic partners in 1994, but were told after moving from New York City to Pennsylvania that “hell would freeze over before Pennsylvania approves same sex marriage.” Since they needed to do estate planning, a lawyer advised them that the only way to become legally related was through adoption. This year, however, a federal district court declared the state’s same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional, so the couple petitioned to vacate their adoption decree and now may legally marry. “We are ecstatic beyond relief,” MacArthur said. “I feel an enormous sense of not only relief but freedom that we can finally do something in Pennsylvania that I’ve been dreaming of for years.”