FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | June 22, 2005

California Court of Appeal Holds that Lesbian Co-Parent is Entitled to Seek Visitation

"There are hundreds of thousands of couples,
including many same-sex couples, who use assisted reproduction to have children. Without question, those parent-child relationships are just as authentic and
real as any others. We are gratified that the Court of Appeal recognized this reality and held that Angela must be allowed to protect her relationship with her son."

(San Francisco, CA, June 22, 2005) — Today, the National Center for Lesbian Rights hailed a groundbreaking decision by the California Court of Appeal holding that a lesbian co-parent is entitled to seek visitation. The Court held that Angela G. is entitled to seek visitation with the child that she jointly brought into the world and co-parented with her former same-sex partner. The legal issues presented in the case are the same as those in three other cases currently pending before the California Supreme Court.

Angela and her former partner were in a committed relationship and decided to have a child together through alternative insemination, using an anonymous sperm donor. Angela paid for the insemination and participated fully in preparing for the child's birth. After the child was born in 1988, Angela and her partner raised the child together in a two-parent family. Angela put the child on her health insurance and took him to medical appointments. When the couple separated in September of 2000, Angela initially had regular visitation and paid child support.

Eventually, however, Angela's former partner cut off all contact between Angela and the child. Angela filed a lawsuit seeking to protect her relationship with the child. The trial court held ruled against her, relying on an old case, dating more than fifteen years ago, holding that a lesbian partner is not entitled to seek custody or visitation with a child unless she has completed an adoption.

In a decision issued yesterday, the Court of Appeal reversed the trial court and held that Angela is entitled to seek visitation. The court explained: "Under the intended parent doctrine, parents who intend to procreate a child through artificial means are held to be the legal parents to the child."

"There are hundreds of thousands of couples, including many same-sex couples, who use assisted reproduction to have children. Without question, those parent-child relationships are just as authentic and real as any others. We are gratified that the Court of Appeal recognized this reality and held that Angela must be allowed to protect her relationship with her son," said Courtney Joslin, National Center for Lesbian Rights Senior Staff Attorney.

The three cases pending before the California Supreme Court are: Elisa B. v. Superior Court, Kristine H. v. Lisa R., and K.M. v. E.G. NCLR is counsel for Emily B. in the Elisa B. case and filed amicus briefs in support of Lisa R. and K.M. in the other two cases. More information about the Supreme Court cases can be found at: www.nclrights.org.

For twenty-eight years NCLR has been a national leader on LGBT family issues including adoption, child custody and visitation, alternative insemination, partnership protection, domestic partner benefits, and marriage rights.