State Supreme Court rules on parental rights for same-sex couples
KXTV Channel 10 Sacramento
August 22, 2005

In a series of cases that could have widespread ramifications for the parental rights of gay and lesbian parents, the California Supreme Court has ruled that former partners of gays and lesbians must be recognized as parents of the children they intended to raise together.

The state high court decision means that for the first time custody and child support laws will also apply to estranged gay and lesbian couples who used reproductive science to conceive.

"The California Supreme Court made legal history today by holding, in three separate decisions, that children born to same-sex couples must be treated equally to other children and thus have a legally protected relationship to both partners," said Courtney Joslin, an attorney for the National Center for Lesbian Rights who argued one of the case before the California Supreme Court. "These decisions are a tremendous victory for children, for parental responsibility, and for common sense."

In one case involving two women in El Dorado County, the court ruled that a woman who agreed to raise children with her lesbian partner, supported her partner's artificial insemination, and identified the resulting twins as her own offspring is the children's parent and is obligated to support them even if the couple has split up.

A second case involved a Marin County lesbian couple in which one woman donated an ovum to her partner so they could have a child together. The court ruled that woman is also the parent of the resulting children because she donated her egg to her partner with the intent of raising the children in their home.

A third case involved a Los Angeles County lesbian couple who used artificial insemination to have a child together. Before the baby was born, the couple entered into a stipulated agreement that both women would be recognized as the parents of the child. The court upheld the agreement after the couple split up.

"This ruling goes against Nature," said Randy Thomasson, president of the Campaign for Children and Families, a conservative group that is fighting efforts to extend marriage rights to same-sex couples. "It ignores the self-evident truth that God designed a man and a woman to fit together and participate in the miracle of procreation."

To read the opinons for Elisa B. v. Superior Court, K.M. v. E.G., and Kristine H. v. Lisa R., click on the link below.