Man Seeks to Annul Adoption to Marry Son

A same-sex couple from Pennsylvania are seeking to get married, there is only one problem. They both are legally father and son.

In a report with CNN, a 78-year-old retired teacher Nino Esposito and his partner Roland "Drew" Bosee, a 68-year-old technical writer were a couple for 40 years before Esposito decided to adopt Bosee as his son. The website said that some gay couples had made use of adoption laws to be recognized legally as a family and experience its related benefits, such as the law on inheritance and hospital visitation rights.

The couple now seeks to nullify the adoption in order to proceed with the marriage, but a state federal judge has denied their request saying that the nullification of adoptions are only limited to instances of fraud.

"We never thought we'd see the day that same-sex marriage would be legal in Pennsylvania," said Esposito in an interview with CNN.

"The adoption gave us the most legitimate thing available to us at the time," added Bosee.

The couple said they knew of other same-sex couples living in Pennsylvania who have nullified their adoptions in favor of marriage. The state had legalized same-sex marriages back in May 2014, which Esposito said was something that they wanted to do. The retired teacher said that a "complete union" was what they wanted.

However, Judge Lawrence J. O'Toole, from the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, has ruled against Esposito and Bosee's request. He added that the purpose of the adoption law was to significantly lower the Pennsylvania inheritance tax upon the death of one of the men from 15% to 4%. He added that both men would now be in a parent-child relationship as opposed to a third party relationship.

The judge also added that he was "sensitive to the issue" and they cannot get married "because they are father and son."

"We had our $80 in cash and we were ready to go across the street to get our license. Judge O'Toole had other ideas," Esposito said of the judge's decision.

WGN reported that Pennsylvania Democratic Sen. Bob Casey had already addressed a letter Monday to Attorney General Loretta Lynch on Monday, appealing that the Justice Department favor the couple's side of the story.