It happens every day - kids get adopted. In forward thinking parts of the country, they even get adopted by members of same sex couples.
But this was a first. A woman who supplied an egg so her female partner could carry their baby has secured the right to adopt her own genetic child - and there was no dispute between the two parties. No divorce, no acrimony. This was all about protecting the child.
Surprised this hasn't happened before? Me too. Same sex couples carrying each other's eggs is not exactly new - celebrity chef Cat Cora and her wife just made news a few months ago because they're both pregnant, and both carrying a fetus made from the opposite's eggs.
But where a woman carrying a baby with sperm donated by her husband via IVF wouldn't have a problem naming him as legal father of the child, too many states still deny same sex couples the ability to name their spouse as the baby's legal parent. Which is why Mona A., the egg donor in this case, petitioned to be named son Sebastian's legal mother shortly after his birth in 2008.
Mona and wife Ingrid A. were legally married in the Netherlands shortly after the country legalized same sex marriage. Their marriage is recognized in some states, where Mona is automatically afforded the rights as parent of the baby her wife delivered. But in other states, where the Defense of Marriage Act reigns supreme, their marriage means little in the eyes of the law - and Mona would be denied her rights as Sebastian's mom.
It was in the best interest of their son that Mona and Ingrid made this petition. It's in imperfect solution to the fight to have their marriage recognized, but it's what they have done to ensure they can both provide for their child.
According to the judge who presided over the case, "Sebastian's genetic mother has other potential legal avenues: first,
to be listed on Sebastian's birth certificate; second ... to execute a
statutorily prescribed acknowledgment of paternity [filiation]; and
third, to obtain a judicial order of filiation."
But Judge Kristin Booth Glen didn't have jurisdiction to secure any of those options for Mona. What she could do was grant an adoption, making both Ingrid and Mona Sebastian's legal parents. Glen says it's the first time a court has had to look at whether two women can be listed on a birth certificate when one is the gestational mother and the second the genetic mother. Although certain states already grant that both members of a same sex couple earn equal legal status as parents, this is the first that takes into account genetics and egg donation.
I am happy for Mona and Ingrid that their case was successful, and I understand that they were doing this in order to retain Mona's rights across state lines. However, it's pathetic that this the means two women have to go through to ensure they both have rights to their own child. Moving to Arkansas or Oklahoma or any other Defense of Marriage BS state is not going to make Mona any less genetically tied to this child. No more so than a move across state lines would make a man's genetic "donation" into a baby any less potent.
But I guess I'm not taking into account that this sweet little baby boy is demon spawn in Arkansas or Oklahoma. . .
Image: Best Quality Wallpapers
Related Posts:
Also on Babble:
