“The state Supreme Court has ruled that a lower court judge erred in granting a lesbian joint custody of her former partner’s adopted daughter. The justices said in a unanimous ruling this week that the woman had no standing to petition for custody in Family Court because she was not the child’s legal parent. The Supreme Court held that, under Delaware law, a person who is considered a ‘de facto’ parent of a child does not have the same rights as a legal parent, and thus is not entitled to custody.” [Washington Blade]
Delaware Court Rules Lesbian Parent Has No Custody Rights
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Jonathan
Well, I guess I’m not going to be moving to Delaware anytime soon.
Maggie
Also, a couple of weeks ago I saw on the news that a 60 year old Canadian woman gave birth to twins. There was a short CNN video clip of the woman’s physician saying that he realized her advanced age and what people would think, that he had those same thoughts that this patient was to old but he decided….that this was her “human liberty and freedom” as it is all women’s freedom to decide if she wants to have a baby, when to have a baby, how many babies, or to perhaps not have a baby, to make all decisions about her own body. Having had a child and knowing what it entails, I certainly think she is too old but it is her human right.
How on Earth does it stop being a woman’s human liberty and freedom after having made the sole decision give up part of her own body while this human life grows inside her, and is actually part of her being, to raise and protect this piece of her as she sees fit? I guess it stops at birth?
There are plenty of nut-job ex-partners out there that want revenge and don’t really care about the child. In this case I’d like to know if there were wills, power of attorney, any long term plans or legal show of intent such as a legal name change so that everyone had the same last name.
I just don’t go for this de facto parent stuff against the wishes of the bio and legal parent. Visitation is one thing but there should be no parental rights to the child unless legal intent is proved. This isn’t just for adoption or insemination, but if your partner lives with you and you child for 3 years and they have helped you in anyway (picked up your child from school or day care, given the child medicine – all the things any loving partner would)they can claim de facto parent and be granted legal visitation of a child you came into the relationship with.
This is not about whats best for the child.