In California, a State Supreme Court case will define parental rights for lesbian couples who are no longer together. Should the biological mother have sole legal custody?
Both women had children from the same sperm donor. They each nursed one another’s kids. Then they separated. Now, the woman who was staying at home is suing her ex-partner for child support, since the other woman was the breadwinner.
What’s interesting is that, although they functioned as a family unit, and the breadwinner listed all the children as dependents on her taxes, they were not legally a family, so the defendant is saying that legally, she has no responsibility for the other children.
Quite messy. However, I bring this up to point out some interesting questions. If they were legally domestic partners, would the defendant have to pay child support? If any couple, even hetero, who are not married split up, should the breadwinner pay child support?
And in this case, does the sperm donor have any responsibility for his kids? I mean, he probably just donated a sperm, and probably waived all rights, but still. These issues also come up with surrogate parents. Some other interesting NPR reports on this trend are below: