And so it begins......
Same old story. LT lesbian couple decide to be artificially insemenated. Couple breaks up after more than a decade and the little girl is 6yo. "Mother" takes kid and married "sperm donor". Cuts off all communication with ex-lover and does not let her see little girl. Seen this happen so many times.....
They are questioning a non-biological parental figure (lesbian partner) and the rights they have to the child.
Funny if I date a single mom for any length of time in the state of WA I can get nailed with child support. Somehow I have a responsibility to the child that is not mine because I assumed the role of father in the realtionship and the child deserves my support now. If I can be hit up for child support than I don't see why this woman who raised the little girl as her own for 6 years can't see her child....biological or not.
Or
Non-biological "fathers" (boyfriends) should not be made to pay child support.....you choose. I am betting the lady gets visitation back.
Rhino
Article below:Link to article
The Associated Press
May 4, 2004, 12:56 PM PDT
SEATTLE -- A woman who hasn't been able to see the child she and her same-sex partner were raising until the couple separated will be allowed to seek parental rights.
The state Court of Appeals ruled Monday that Sue Ellen Carvin, who goes by "Mian," can return to a King County Superior Court and seek to prove that she has a parental relationship with the girl, now 8 years old.
The ruling could create a new class of parent in the state.
Carvin sued her former partner, Page Britain, in November 2002, alleging that Britain had unfairly cut off access to Britain's biological daughter.
Carvin has not seen the girl in two years, and her attorney, Patricia Novotny, said the woman is "so very pleased and anxious to be reunited with her daughter."
"This case is about the relationship between my daughter and me," Carvin said in a written statement, "but it stretches beyond those boundaries to include people in similar situations."
Britain's attorney, Gayle Brenchley, argued that giving parental rights to people without a biological relationship or who didn't adopt is dangerous.
She said under the court's rationale, nearly anyone who lives with a single mother and helps take care of a child could make parental claims later.
She did not know whether Britain would appeal.
The women became romantically involved in 1989 and decided to have Britain artificially inseminated in 1994.
Carvin has maintained that the couple agreed she would be the girl's primary caregiver, shuttling her to swimming lessons and occer practices, playing with and disciplining the child.
Then the women split and Britain married the sperm donor. When Carvin was subsequently barred from seeing the girl she sought legal help.
A court commissioner sided with Britain, as did King County Superior Court Judge Michael Trickey, who dismissed Carvin's petition to be declared a parent early last year.
On Monday, the appeals court agreed Carvin did not have standing under the state's Uniform Parentage Act. But the three-judge panel found she could seek status as a "de facto or psychological parent" by presenting evidence of a parent-child relationship.
Carvin must show that she lived with the girl and took on parental duties for free. She also must prove Britain encouraged her relationship with the child and that they bonded.
The girl called Carvin "Mama" and referred to Britain as "Mommy."
Carvin may also seek "third party visitation," as grandparent might, by showing her absence is harming the girl.
The court's decision "acknowledged the reality of today's families" and "recognized that parent-child bonds are formed regardless of biology or laws," said Lisa Stone, executive director of the Northwest Women's Law Center, which is representing Carvin.
A handful of other states' courts have recognized the parental rights of former homosexual partners, Novotny said.
Copyright © 2004, The Associated Press
Same old story. LT lesbian couple decide to be artificially insemenated. Couple breaks up after more than a decade and the little girl is 6yo. "Mother" takes kid and married "sperm donor". Cuts off all communication with ex-lover and does not let her see little girl. Seen this happen so many times..... They are questioning a non-biological parental figure (lesbian partner) and the rights they have to the child.
Funny if I date a single mom for any length of time in the state of WA I can get nailed with child support. Somehow I have a responsibility to the child that is not mine because I assumed the role of father in the realtionship and the child deserves my support now.
If I can be hit up for child support than I don't see why this woman who raised the little girl as her own for 6 years can't see her child....biological or not.Or
Non-biological "fathers" (boyfriends) should not be made to pay child support.....you choose. I am betting the lady gets visitation back.
Rhino
Article below:Link to article
The Associated Press
May 4, 2004, 12:56 PM PDT
SEATTLE -- A woman who hasn't been able to see the child she and her same-sex partner were raising until the couple separated will be allowed to seek parental rights.
The state Court of Appeals ruled Monday that Sue Ellen Carvin, who goes by "Mian," can return to a King County Superior Court and seek to prove that she has a parental relationship with the girl, now 8 years old.
The ruling could create a new class of parent in the state.
Carvin sued her former partner, Page Britain, in November 2002, alleging that Britain had unfairly cut off access to Britain's biological daughter.
Carvin has not seen the girl in two years, and her attorney, Patricia Novotny, said the woman is "so very pleased and anxious to be reunited with her daughter."
"This case is about the relationship between my daughter and me," Carvin said in a written statement, "but it stretches beyond those boundaries to include people in similar situations."
Britain's attorney, Gayle Brenchley, argued that giving parental rights to people without a biological relationship or who didn't adopt is dangerous.
She said under the court's rationale, nearly anyone who lives with a single mother and helps take care of a child could make parental claims later.
She did not know whether Britain would appeal.
The women became romantically involved in 1989 and decided to have Britain artificially inseminated in 1994.
Carvin has maintained that the couple agreed she would be the girl's primary caregiver, shuttling her to swimming lessons and occer practices, playing with and disciplining the child.
Then the women split and Britain married the sperm donor. When Carvin was subsequently barred from seeing the girl she sought legal help.
A court commissioner sided with Britain, as did King County Superior Court Judge Michael Trickey, who dismissed Carvin's petition to be declared a parent early last year.
On Monday, the appeals court agreed Carvin did not have standing under the state's Uniform Parentage Act. But the three-judge panel found she could seek status as a "de facto or psychological parent" by presenting evidence of a parent-child relationship.
Carvin must show that she lived with the girl and took on parental duties for free. She also must prove Britain encouraged her relationship with the child and that they bonded.
The girl called Carvin "Mama" and referred to Britain as "Mommy."
Carvin may also seek "third party visitation," as grandparent might, by showing her absence is harming the girl.
The court's decision "acknowledged the reality of today's families" and "recognized that parent-child bonds are formed regardless of biology or laws," said Lisa Stone, executive director of the Northwest Women's Law Center, which is representing Carvin.
A handful of other states' courts have recognized the parental rights of former homosexual partners, Novotny said.
Copyright © 2004, The Associated Press
