Full 5th Circuit Hears 2 Dads Case

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The question of whether Louisiana must put both parents' names on birth certificates of children adopted by gay couples is going to the full federal appeals court in New Orleans.

Sixteen judges on the

hear arguments Wednesday in the case of Oren Adar and Mickey Ray Smith of San Diego.

A Shreveport woman gave her son to them shortly after his birth in late 2005. He was adopted in April 2006 in New York state.

Adopted children get birth certificates bearing their new parents' names. Louisiana contends that because state law lets only married couples or single individuals adopt, only one man's name may go the boy's birth certificate.

A district judge and a three-judge appeal panel ruled that Louisiana was wrong.