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Saturday, November 27, 2004

Indiana decisions - Court extends rights to gay mom

"Court extends rights to gay mom: Judges prod lawmakers to address family issues raised by new social reality and reproductive technology." That is the headline to this front-page story today in the Indianapolis Star, reporting on the decision of an Indiana Court of Appeal's panel last Wednesday, In Re: A.B. v. S.B. (11/24/04 IndCtApp) [Family Law]. Review the Indiana Law Blog summary from Nov. 24th here (last of 7 cases reviewed).

Some quotes from the Star story:

The appeals court overturned the ruling of Monroe Circuit Judge Kenneth G. Todd, who found Dawn King had no legal standing with the girl born to her former partner, Stephanie Benham, because King was not a biological parent. The child is 5 years old. * * *

King and Benham shared their home, lives and finances for nine years. Benham was impregnated with semen donated by King's brother, and King was present at the child's birth.

The little girl recognized both women as her mothers, calling King "Mama." And after the pair split in January 2002, King paid child support and had regular visits with the child until July 2003, when Benham stopped accepting the support and denied King visitation.

"I just want what any other parents wants -- a relationship with my child," said King, 35, Bloomington. She said she already has missed the child's first day of school and other milestone events. The child and Benham also live in Monroe County.

Also from the Star story:
The decision is likely to have an impact on future custody and child support cases, and issues such as access to health insurance and inheritance through the nonbiological parent, said [Courtney Joslin, an attorney with the National Center for Lesbian Rights in San Francisco] and [Fran Quigley, executive director of the Indiana Civil Liberties Union].

Previously in Indiana, the only way for same-sex partners to each attain legal parent status was through a "second-parent adoption," a costly undertaking that grants parental rights to a nonbiological parent. However, some judges in Indiana have refused to allow the second-parent adoptions for same-sex partners.

Fishers attorney Sean C. Lemieux, who represented King, said the case is about the rights of parents and children and was based on a state Supreme Court ruling involving a married heterosexual couple who had a child through artificial insemination.

"It is not the courts that have engendered the diverse composition of today's families," [Judge Ezra H.] Friedlander wrote in the decision. "It is the advancement of reproductive technologies and society's recognition of alternative lifestyles that have produced families in which a biological, and therefore a legal, connection is no longer the sole organizing principle."

Concurring with Friedlander in the case were Judges Carr L. Darden and Paul D. Mathias.

Lemieux said the court stopped short of setting a standard for what constitutes a nontraditional parenting partnership, something that will need to be resolved in the future.

"The decision sends the message that if you plan on bringing a child into this world through artificial insemination, there are certain rights and responsibilities not tied to marriage," he said. "What's going to be important for people in the future is to set out, ahead of time, what their intentions are, for everyone's protection."

Posted by Marcia Oddi on November 27, 2004 07:12 AM
Posted to Indiana Decisions