NY state high court curbs non-bio moms’ rights

May 07, 2010

Posted by Dana Rudolph on keennewsservice.com:

"New York State’s highest court ruled this week that a non-biological mother has the right to seek custody and visitation of the child she and her ex-civil union partner planned for and created together. But the decision falls short of what many LGBT civil rights activists had hoped for because the court indicated it still would not recognize a gay parent’s relationship to their child unless they were the biological parent, in a legally recognized relationship with the child’s biological parent, or had secured a second-parent adoption.

"Identified in the opinion only by their first names and last initials, New York residents Debra H. and Janice R. conceived a child together using medical insemination. One month before the child was born, in 2003, the women obtained a civil union license in Vermont.

"After the boy’s birth, Debra, the non-biological parent, wanted to do a second-parent adoption to establish a legal relationship with the child. That is permitted under New York law. But Janice R. repeatedly denied her requests to do so. The women separated in 2006, but Debra remained active in raising the boy. Then, in 2008, Janice cut off all contact between Debra and the child, and Debra went to court seeking joint custody.

"Two lower courts disagreed: one found for and one against Debra. But on May 4, the New York State Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court, said Debra is a legal parent of the child—but only because she is recognized as such under Vermont law, based on her civil union.

"The court noted that New York, like other states, must recognize a legal parental status granted in another state, just as it does parentage created by an adoption in a foreign country.

"The ruling enables Debra H. to go back to a lower court and ask it to consider her request for custody and visitation, based on the boy’s best interests.

"Legal activists applauded the decision for finding that the civil union created a parental relationship between the non-biological parent and the child that was recognized in New York. But they were disappointed the court said it would not recognize the non-biological parent’s relationship with the child had the women not been able to obtain a civil union or marriage license."

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