From: LLDEFNY@aol.com Date: Mon, 5 Jun 1995 12:54:12 -0400 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monday, June 5, 1995 Lesbian Adoption Case Goes to the = New York=92s Highest Court for the First Time; Case Will Set State Adoption Policy for Unmarried Couples (NEW YORK, June 5, 1995) =97 Considering for the first time whether lesbi= an and gay parents can adopt their partners=92 children, the New York Court of A= ppeals will hear the case today of a lesbian who is seeking to adopt the biologi= cal child of her longtime partner, in what is commonly called a =93second-par= ent adoption.=94 The couple, who are from Putnam County, have been together for 19 years = and have raised their daughter, Dana, together since her birth in June 1990. = One of the women, identified in court papers as =93P.I.,=94 gave birth to the= child conceived by insemination from an anonymous donor. Her partner, =93G.M.,= =94 is seeking the adoption to secure a legal parental relationship with Dana without disturbing the legal relationship between the child and the birth= mother. =93We are taking this case to the state=92s highest court so I can be le= gally recognized as my daughter=92s mother,=94 said G.M., who is a special educ= ation teacher in Poughkeepsie. =93There are some decisions that only a legal p= arent can make. Our daughter should have the benefit of two parents who can ta= ke care of her, and make decisions about her education, health and well-bein= g.=94 Beatrice Dohrn, the legal director at Lambda Legal Defense and Education= Fund, said, =93This case is critical to thousands of families in New York= State. The Court=92s decision in this case is likely to determine whethe= r children with two gay parents may ever have a legally recognized relation= ship with both their moms or dads.=94 Dohrn, who has represented the lesbian mother throughout the appeal, wil= l present the oral argument seeking reversal of a decision last month by th= e Appellate Division, Second Department which denied the adoption. Affirmi= ng a 1993 family court ruling, the appellate division held that if the adoptio= n were granted, the New York Domestic Relations Law would require the court= to terminate the biological mother=92s parental rights and responsibilities.= Lambda=92s brief contends that the lower court misconstrued the law bec= ause it should be applied only to inheritance rights. Further, the brief cont= ends that state law does not require a termination of the birth mother=92s rig= hts when the adoption occurs within a functioning family unit, as is the case= with G.M., P.I. and Dana. =93The lower court was mistaken when it acted contrary to Dana=92s best interest,=94 said Dohrn, who has received a large number of calls from le= sbians and gay men anxious about how to create legally binding ties with their families. =93Today=92s appeal is the first time this issue has arisen be= fore New York=92s highest court, and we are confident that the Court will consider= the needs of the children in the state who have gay or lesbian parents.=94 On the same day, the Court of Appeals will hear a related case involving= an unmarried heterosexual couple from Oneida County. The petitioner in that= case is appealing a decision handed down last December by the Appellate Division, Fourth Department, which denied his request to adopt his partne= r=92s biological son, Jacob, on similar grounds. Lambda filed a brief in suppo= rt of the couple=92s appeal. = In other parts of the country, same-gender couples have been granted second-parent adoptions in at least 14 states. The issue has come up in appellate courts in Massachusetts and Vermont, which sanctioned the adoptions, and in Wisconsin, which did not. Lambda is also involved in t= he first appeal of a second-parent adoption case in Illinois involving a les= bian couple seeking to adopt their three-year-old daughter, Olivia M. (The cases are Matter of Dana, New York Court of Appeals, No. 196 and Mat= ter of Jacob, New York Court of Appeals, No. 195.) =96 30 =96 Press Contact: Denny Lee (212) 995-8585