I’m very pleased to bring you a guest piece by Patience Crozier, an attorney with GLAD who was co-counsel in a key case about the rights of nonbiological moms. She not only discusses the case, but also shares some key points that unmarried same-sex parents or prospective parents should know about securing ties to their children.
Courts in Missouri and New York affirmed this week that nonbiological parents should be recognized as parents under the law—nice victories, but also a reminder that we need to apply this in our own lives, even in cases of divorce or separation.
A nonbiological mother is a legal parent to the child she and her same-sex spouse conceived through assisted reproduction, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled yesterday, in a ruling that emphasized the benefits such recognition has for children. The ruling could also have an impact on at least one more pending case.
Several court cases involving same-sex parents could be helped by a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling—but the cases also underscore the obstacles we are still facing and suggest some needed actions for all of us to take.
The Arizona Court of Appeals ruled yesterday that a nonbiological mother is not entitled to be seen as a parent, even though she was married to the biological mother, they planned the child together, and both of their names were on the child’s birth certificate. It also said that the U.S. Supreme Court’s marriage equality ruling in Obergefell has nothing to do with parenting statutes.
A court in Mississippi has not only said a nonbiological mother has no parental rights over the child she helped to plan for, support, and raise with her ex-spouse, but that their anonymous sperm donor does. The mom, however, is fighting back.
Four expectant two-mom (well, mom-to-be) couples in Tennessee are suing the State of Tennessee after Gov. Bill Haslam (R) signed a bill requiring state law to interpret words by their “natural and ordinary meaning”—which LGBTQ advocates say could deny rights to same-sex couples. But the week also saw good news for one nonbiological mom fighting for custody rights in the state.
Yes, even in Massachusetts, the first state to have marriage equality, same-sex parents have had to fight for their rights—not least because the benefits of marriage don’t cover unmarried parents. Today, however, saw a clear victory for one unmarried nonbiological mother and her children.
In a major ruling today that will benefit same-sex parents, among others, the New York Court of Appeals said that a person who is not related to a child by biology or adoption may still be considered a parent if they and the other parent agreed to have and raise the child together—even if the two adults are not married.
Here are a few stories I haven’t covered on my blog yet. Pull up a cup of coffee (or an icy beverage, if the weather’s like it is near me) and enjoy.
