Tomorrow a court of 16 federal appeals judges will decide whether Louisiana must put both parents’ names on birth certificates of children adopted by gay couples.

Oren Adar and Mickey Ray Smith of San Diego are hoping that the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals will uphold a unanimous three-judge ruling and a district judge’s decision that both of their names must go on their son’s birth certificate. Adar and Smith adopted a boy who was born in Shreveport in late 2005. The two were living in Connecticut at the time and went to Louisiana to meet the mother, who gave them legal custody soon after his birth. They adopted him in April 2006 in New York state.

Currently, the vital records laws in Louisiana do not permit for the inclusion of names of unmarried couples, who cannot adopt together in Louisiana regardless of sexual orientation.

Similar cases have been considered in Virginia and Mississippi where the adoptive parents prevailed and their names were placed on the birth certificates.