Parental Rights Of Lesbian Ex-Partner Upheld
By Texas Court| Posted: October 3, 2004 4:02 p ET |
(Galveston, Texas) A Texas state district judge has upheld the parental rights of a woman who adopted a child born to her lesbian partner.
The couple's eight-year relationship ended in March and the birth mother went to court to have the adoption overturned arguing that Texas law does not permit co-parenting by same-sex couples.
The 6-year-old child's biological mother, Julie Anne Hobbs, claims the adoption by her former partner, Janet Kathleen Van Stavern, is void. She says among the requirements for a child to be adopted under the Texas Family Code is for the child's relationship with biological parents to be terminated or for the parent whose rights were not terminated to be married to the person seeking custody. Same-sex marriages are not recognized in Texas.The rights of the man who donated the semen for the artificial insemination were terminated. Van Stavern legally adopted the girl when she was a 3-year-old. She has continued to provide $400 a month in child support and visit with the girl since her split from Hobbs.
"The granting of this adoption was directly contrary to and in violation of Texas law and, therefore, void as a matter of law," Hobbs' attorneys Marie Trefethern and Christine Mangle argued in a legal brief. "The court had no authority to grant the adoption as Janet Kathleen Van Stavern could not be the 'spouse' of Julie Anne Hobbs nor the 'stepparent' to the child."
Van Stavern says it is too late for Hobbs to challenge the adoption.
Van Stavern's attorney Shannon Warren said Hobbs could have attacked the adoption for six months after it was approved. Once that period is over, Warren says Hobbs has no grounds to fight the adoption.
Judge Janis Yarbrough agreed, ruling Friday that the adoption should stand.
The girl's mother, Julie Hobbs, became pregnant through means of artificial insemination.