Adoption and Parenting

(CHICAGO, June 1, 1999) -- The Illinois appeals court late Tuesday offered apologies to two lesbian families whose attempts to secure second-parent adoptions for three small children had been blocked by the extraordinary actions and rogue rulings of a Cook County judge, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund said.

(Los Angeles, August 22, 2005) — Lambda Legal issued the following statement regarding the decision by the California Supreme Court in three cases involving lesbian parents.

Jennifer C. Pizer, Senior Counsel in Lambda Legal’s Western Regional Office in Los Angeles said:

“Today’s decisions build on a solid foundation of California statutory and common law intended to protect California’s children, regardless of the sexual orientation of their parents. These cases highlight the need for a Family Code that protects all families—all kids—equally.

(ATLANTA, May 7, 1999) -- An increasingly common type of family dispute will reach a Florida appeals court with a visitation case concerning same-sex parents and the four-year-old girl they raised together until their relationship ended, said Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund.

(CHICAGO, May 7, 1999) — An increasingly common type of family dispute will reach an Illinois appeals court with a visitation case concerning same-sex parents and the five-year-old girl they raised together until they broke up, said Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund.

(Philadelphia, September 27, 2005) — The Superior Court of Pennsylvania affirmed a lower court ruling awarding custody of twins to Patricia Jones, a lesbian mother, ruling that Jones would provide a better home than her ex-partner, Ellen Boring (the children's biological parent).

(NEW YORK, May 3, 1999) -- Hoping to help their communities avert a crisis, an ad-hoc alliance of LGBT legal and family-oriented organizations today launched an effort to provide guidelines for handling child custody matters when families break apart.

The recommended standards are contained in a publication entitled "Protecting Families: Standards for Child Custody Disputes in Same-Sex Relationships." The groups hope to see this widely circulated and followed by families in crisis and those who work with them.

(Indianapolis, October 14, 2005) — In papers filed in the Indiana Court of Appeals, Lambda Legal argued that the adoption of a baby girl by two lesbian mothers must be honored by the Morgan Juvenile Court, which has instead ordered the child, Morgan, removed from their home.