LAMBDA LEGAL DEFENSE & EDUCATION FUND
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press Contact: Beatrice Dohrn/Suzanne Goldberg (212) 995-8585/8985
NEW YORK'S HIGHEST COURT GRANTS ADOPTION
TO LESBIAN CO-PARENT OF FIVE YEAR OLD DAUGHTER
Ruling Will Enable Children of Lesbian and Gay Parents
Statewide to Have Legal Relationships with Both Parents
(NEW YORK, November 2, 1995) For the first time in New York, the state's
highest court today issued a ruling allowing the children of lesbian and gay
parents to establish legal ties with both of their parents.
Beatrice Dohrn, legal director of Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund,
which represented the lesbian couple in the case, said, "This is a
tremendous victory for the thousands of kids in New York who have unmarried
parents. This ruling will allow those children to have the security of a
full legal relationship with both their parents."
In a 4 to 3 ruling, the New York Court of Appeals allowed a lesbian mother to
adopt her partner's biological child without also severing the legal bond
between the child and the biological parent. The decision, which sets
adoption policy for the entire state, overturned a lower appellate court
ruling in April which denied the adoption.
The case involves a lesbian mother from Putnam County who petitioned the
court to adopt her partner s biological daughter, Dana. The biological
mother, Patricia Irwin (identified in court papers as P.I. ) gave birth to
Dana five years ago after having been inseminated with sperm from an
anonymous donor. The couple has taken care of, and shared responsibility for
Dana since her birth. Ms. Irwin's partner of 19 years, Gail Messina ( G.M.
), petitioned for the adoption to secure a legally recognized relationship
with Dana without also disturbing Dana's legal relationship with her birth
mother.
"My family is ecstatic about the court's ruling," said Messina, who is a
special education teacher in Poughkeepsie. "It's a shame that we had to go
through years of court proceedings to secure something as basic as this
adoption, but I'm happy we persevered. This ruling, I hope, will pave the
way for other parents who are in our situation."
The ruling, the first by New York's top court, covers the entire state and
sets adoption policy in all 62 counties under the New York Domestic Relations
Law. New York joins two other states, Massachusetts and Vermont, with
statewide high court rulings allowing second-parent adoptions. In addition,
appellate courts in Illinois, New Jersey, and the District of Columbia, and
trial courts in ten other states have granted second-parent adoptions. In
the Illinois case, a lesbian couple represented by Lambda were permitted to
adopt their three-year-old daughter Olivia.
"New York has joined a growing number of states in recognizing that children
of lesbian and gay parents should have the same protections as all other
kids," added Dohrn, who argued the case's appeal in June. "Gay parents, like
non-gay parents, want the best for their children. The court s ruling will
allow many parents in this state to better provide for their children s needs
and interests."
Lambda also filed a friend-of-the-court brief in a separate case decided
today by the New York Court of Appeals granting an unmarried man from Oneida
County the right to adopt the child he is raising jointly with the child's
birth mother.
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