Lesbian Couple Wins Co-Parenting Rights on Birth Certificate
Written By Ross von Metzke Location: Newark, NJ Category: Daily News (Newark, NJ) — When Kimberly Robinson and Jeanne LoCicero signed documents in New York registering themselves as domestic partners, the couple considered themselves a family. Wednesday, they added a new member to the family — legally.
In a first-of-its kind ruling in New Jersey, a judge granted LoCicero full co-parenting rights to Robinson’s baby, without having to go through lengthy adoption proceedings.
They will both be listed as parents on the birth certificate of Vivian Ryan LoCicero, who was born on April 30, once the document is issued.
"We're thrilled," LoCicero, who serves as a staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, said Thursday. "We always felt like a family; now it's nice to know the court thinks we are one, too."
Robinson and LoCicero registered in New York as domestic partners in 2003 and got married in Canada last summer. They bought a house together and decided they wanted to have a child together. Robinson was impregnated using sperm from an anonymous donor.
The couple said they fought to have LoCicero’s name included on the birth certificate because they wanted to know the baby would be protected should something ever happen to one of them.
According to Ed Barocas, the ACLU's legal director for New Jersey, the case dealt with the state's artificial insemination law, which protects a child's relationship to a non-biological parent who consents to a spouse's artificial insemination.
"It definitely provides protection to the child based on the equal protection laws, that this child should be no less protected than a child of a heterosexual union," he said.
In ruling on the case, Superior Court Judge Patricia Medina Talbert in Newark used as support the many steps the couple has gone through to demonstrate their commitment to one another as proof that they formed a stable union in the child's best interest.
Because the question at issue was the relationship of LoCicero and the child, and not LoCicero's relationship with Robinson, the court did not need to rule on whether their marriage in Canada is legally valid in New Jersey, Barocas said.
© 2005 GayWired.com, All Rights Reserved
Article provided by www.GayLinkContent.com . For more information,contact us at info@gaylinkcontent.com . Reprinted with permission by 4 Gays Web Hosting and 1 Body GLBT Christian Resources
In a first-of-its kind ruling in New Jersey, a judge granted LoCicero full co-parenting rights to Robinson’s baby, without having to go through lengthy adoption proceedings.
They will both be listed as parents on the birth certificate of Vivian Ryan LoCicero, who was born on April 30, once the document is issued.
"We're thrilled," LoCicero, who serves as a staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, said Thursday. "We always felt like a family; now it's nice to know the court thinks we are one, too."
Robinson and LoCicero registered in New York as domestic partners in 2003 and got married in Canada last summer. They bought a house together and decided they wanted to have a child together. Robinson was impregnated using sperm from an anonymous donor.
The couple said they fought to have LoCicero’s name included on the birth certificate because they wanted to know the baby would be protected should something ever happen to one of them.
According to Ed Barocas, the ACLU's legal director for New Jersey, the case dealt with the state's artificial insemination law, which protects a child's relationship to a non-biological parent who consents to a spouse's artificial insemination.
"It definitely provides protection to the child based on the equal protection laws, that this child should be no less protected than a child of a heterosexual union," he said.
In ruling on the case, Superior Court Judge Patricia Medina Talbert in Newark used as support the many steps the couple has gone through to demonstrate their commitment to one another as proof that they formed a stable union in the child's best interest.
Because the question at issue was the relationship of LoCicero and the child, and not LoCicero's relationship with Robinson, the court did not need to rule on whether their marriage in Canada is legally valid in New Jersey, Barocas said.
© 2005 GayWired.com, All Rights Reserved
Article provided by www.GayLinkContent.com . For more information,contact us at info@gaylinkcontent.com . Reprinted with permission by 4 Gays Web Hosting and 1 Body GLBT Christian Resources
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