Solomon Had it Easy

Remember the story from the Bible where two women, each claiming to be the real mother of a baby, come before King Solomon, and he has to decide to whom to give the child.  He says the only solution is to cut the child in half and give each of them a half?  In the fictional account, i.e., the Bible story, the real mother recoils in horror at the idea and offers the other mother the baby to save the child.  From that Solomon deduces the mother willing to do what's right for the child to be the real mother.  That's how it works in fiction-fantasy.

In real life?  On Tuesday, the California Supreme Court is hearing arguments in three similar cases.   Each case involves Lesbians fighting over their children.  None of these cases would be before the court if Gay and Lesbian relationships were recognized marriages.  The San Francisco Chronicle has a new legal reporter, Bob Egelko, who covered the story and summarizes the situation very well.

In two of the situations, the women thought they covered all the bases for protecting themselves and their children.   Take for example, the first case, K.M. v. E.G. from Marin County.  K.M. contributed the eggs, E.G. carried the fetuses, both women welcomed the twins born to their relationship as their children.  After five years the women broke up, E.G., the birth mother, took the twins to Massachusetts.  Even though she has no genetic connection to the twins, she gets to be the presumed mother because her womb was used.  Last year, the first District Court of Appeal ruled that birth mother trumps, despite contract and promises to the egg-mother.

The second case is about contracts.  Kristine Renee H. and Lisa Ann R. decided to have a baby.  Kristine Renee was the birth mother.  They signed a court approved contract to guarantee that they would always share custody of the baby.  Two years later they separated and Kristine Renee decided unilaterally that Lisa Ann had no right to be involved in the baby's life.  Lisa Ann sued.  The contract was ruled invalid.  Lisa Ann appealed.  The second District Court of Appeal upheld the invalidity of the contract, but ruled that Lisa Ann might qualify as a parent under the laws that establish the right of legal fatherhood, because that law is written in a neutral gender. 

But wait, there's more.  Elisa Maria B. and Emily B. had a couple of children.  They split up about a year after the birth of the second child.  For awhile, Elisa Maria paid child support to Emily, but after a few years, lost interest and quit.  Emily went on welfare.  The county then sued Elisa Maria B. to recover support payments.  The county lost and appealed.  The Court of Appeal said Elisa Maria had no obligation to pay child support.  The county appealed, supported by the California Attorney General who is arguing that at least when it comes to paying child support, Elisa Maria can be the presumed parent.

"What's at stake is whether children of same-sex parents will receive the same protection of their emotional needs as children of heterosexual parents, '' said Jill Hersh, lawyer for a Marin County woman who is seeking to become a legal parent of twin girls she helped raise with her now-estranged partner. "Are we going to treat children differently based upon the status of their parents?''

But attorney Matthew Staver of Liberty Counsel, a conservative Florida- based organization that has filed arguments in all three cases opposing expansion of parental status beyond the birth mother, said courts should not redefine parenthood.

"I think what's at stake is the definition of family,'' he said. "If somebody can cohabitate and, by virtue of that, develop parental bonds, and thus parental rights, I think that undermines the biological parent's parental authority. If you start defining family by mere emotions, I think that undermines the core of the family itself.''

Some of these situations may be covered in future Lesbian divorce scenarios, but this is the Gordian knot presented to the California Supreme Court today.  And this being California, it's going to be on television.  Check with your local station.

Comments

[oldwhitelady]

Sad situations, that's for sure. Really, they should legalize gay and lesbian marriage. Why deny them that right? Sanctity of marriage, my ass! Lots of these married straight people go out and have affairs. Aren't they sullying the "sanctity"?