Lambda Legal Urges California Supreme Court To Protect Families in Series of Lesbian Parenting Cases

(Los Angeles, Friday, April 8, 2005) — Lambda Legal today filed a friend-of-the-court brief at the California Supreme Court, seeking to ensure that children raised in lesbian- or gay-headed households always have the support of two parents.

“This is the kind of dark cloud that families headed by heterosexual couples don’t have to fear. It’s very frightening to know that your legal relationship with your own child could be jeopardized by a ruling in a lawsuit that has nothing to do with you,” said Jennifer C. Pizer, Senior Counsel in Lambda Legal’s Western Regional Office in Los Angeles.

There are three cases being considered by the high court:

Kristine Renee H. v. Lisa Ann R. – Parentage judgments often are used by same-sex couples (and different sex couples who have had the help of a gestational surrogate mother) who want to secure the legal relationships between both intended parents and the child early and fast, without waiting the longer period adoptions require; the judgments provide immediate legal ties to the child for the non-biological parent, and also cut off potential legal rights of a sperm donor or surrogate mother. Such judgments have been used for years in California, but are now at risk after a lesbian, Kristine H., sued to have the parentage agreement she entered into with her former partner invalidated. The couple separated two years after the birth of their child.

Elisa Maria B. v. Superios Court – After the couple in this case had children, the relationship ended and Elisa stopped financially supporting twins to whom her former partner had given birth, and her former partner, who was a stay-at-home mom. A trial court ruled that Elisa is a parent to the children because the two women planned the family together and Elisa held the children out as her own and therefore bears financial responsibility for them. The appeals court disagreed, ruling that Elisa should not be considered the other parent to the children and has no obligations to her family.

K.M. v. E.G. – The two women in this case were in a committed relationship and planned a family. K.M. donated eggs to be implanted in E.G. who carried twins to term. They raised the children together for five years before the relationship ended. When the couple separated, E.G. wanted to keep the children from her former partner and is trying to sever any ties K.M. has with the children. A lower court found that since K.M. signed a waiver at the fertility clinic to donate her eggs to E.G., she has relinquished any legal ties to the children born from those eggs. The appeals court upheld that decision.

The brief filed today by Lambda Legal and the National Center for Lesbian Rights argues that the California Uniform Parentage Act was designed to identify adults who have a responsibility to children, financial and otherwise, regardless of marital status.

"The California Supreme Court has the welfare of thousands of children with same-sex parents in its hands," said Kate Kendell, executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), who joined Lambda's friend-of-the-court brief and who represents Emily B. in Elisa B. v. El Dorado County, one of the three cases before the California Supreme Court. "This case will determine whether California will treat these children equally or relegate them to an inferior legal status, simply because their parents are lesbian or gay."

Lambda Legal and the National Center for Lesbian Rights wrote the brief, which was joined by Children Of Lesbians And Gays Everywhere (COLAGE), Equality California, Family Pride Coalition, Family Matters, Our Family Coalition and the Pop Luck Club.

Nearly two years ago, the California Supreme Court confirmed that second-parent adoptions are valid in California after a woman tried to sever a relationship between her former partner and their children by arguing that California adoption law doesn’t include second-parent adoptions. That case was Sharon S. v. Superior Court of San Diego County. Lambda Legal and the National Center for Lesbian Rights worked on that case, as well.

Lambda Legal says that couples who register as domestic partners will have the benefit of presumed parentage for children born into the relationship. That protection is provided by A.B. 205, California’s extensive domestic partnership law, which went into effect in January.

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Contact: Lisa Hardaway, Lambda Legal, 212-809-8585, ext: 266

National Center for Lesbian Rights on the web: www.nclrights.org
Lambda Legal on the web: www.lambdalegal.org

Lambda Legal is a national organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and those with HIV through impact litigation, education, and public policy work.