Gay custody battles force law to define what a parent is

A spate of gay custody battles are forcing the law to reconsider what constitutes a parent, with one particular case in New York set to have major implications for many more LGBTI couples.

The New York Court of Appeals is to decide whether the ex-girlfriend of a child’s biological mother should have legal parenting rights – despite having never adopted the child in question, or been married to the biological mother in one a several gay custody battles that could define LGBT family law in New York and around the country.

Brooke Barone claims she acted as the child’s ‘Mamma B’ when her girlfriend Elizabeth Cleland gave birth after artificial insemination. But when the couple split up, Cleland reportedly denied Barone visitation rights to the child – which is what Barone is now fighting for in court. Cleland claims she does not feel safe leaving her child with Barone.

lesbian family law

drawing of a happy couple of lesbians and adopted child

Tangled gay custody battles

The argument against awarding parental rights outside of biology, marriage or adoption centers on the potential for opening up bogus parenting claims. These, lawmakers argue, could come from friends, nannies, or even abusive partners seeking to gain control and cause distress.

However, those in favor of broadening the definition of a parent point out heterosexual men have been recognized as parents without genetic or adoptive connections, in order to compel child support payments.

The legalization of same-sex marriage in the US has thrust the tangled legalities of same-sex families into the spotlight, with several similar cases currently being fought in other US states, including another typically gay-friendly state, Massachusetts. And in Canada, the premier of Ontario has pledged to change the law so that both parents in an LGBTI couple are immediately entered onto the birth certificate, hopefully avoiding gay custody battles. This is a huge change to the province’s current law, where a non-biological parent in a same-sex couple is forced to begin the lengthy and costly adoption process in order to be legally recognized.

Speaking to The Wall Street Journal, Columbia Law professor Suzanne Goldberg said that ‘It’s only an accident of law that leads one of those parents to be unrecognized [in these cases].’

New York decision to set precedent

Even when a partner has adopted the child, however, a biological parent looking to disavow their former partner of parentage has legal recourse – as a recent case involving a lesbian couple in Alabama showed. The Alabama courts were eventually obliged by the US Supreme Court to find in favor of the adoptive parent, however.

Click here to read the entire article.

GayStarNews.com – June 5, 2016 by Laura Chubb

in Legal / Parenting / Recently Added / Second Parent Adoption / Step Parent Adoption  by Anthony Brown 0 comments

Family Estate Planning

Family estate planning addresses the greatest concern of most families with younger children: ensuring their stability and security if something happens to a parent.

No one wants to think about a worst case scenario; however, that scenario will become much worse if there isn’t  family estate planning in place. The good news is that once it is completed, parents do not have to worry live in worry anymore.

There are many types of family estate planning and I will review several that may be helpful to your family. They include: basic estate planning, trust planning, guardianship planning and securing all parental rights to a child through adoption, if applicable.

Basic Estate Planning – In most states, a valid Last Will and Testament is the only legal way to name a guardian, other than the other biological or adoptive parent of a child, when one parent dies.  It is critical to have a Will in order to make this designation.  Most couples are concerned about something called a “simultaneous death event,” which is defined as a single event, or series of related events, that takes the lives of both parents.  A competent attorney will be able to prepare for this possibility in a Last Will and Testament, the cornerstone of a basic estate plan.estate planning , estate planning trust, glbt estate planning, lgbt estate planning, gay family law, wills, trusts

Basic estate plans should also include health care documentation known as Living Wills and Medical Powers of Attorney, or Healthcare Proxies. A Living Will states exactly what measures a person wants or does not want if certain specifically outlined medical conditions arise. It does not, however, authorize another person to make those decisions for the Principal of the Living Will.  A Medical Power of Attorney allows a designated person to have access to medical records and make specified medical decisions for the Principal.  For more information on basic estate planning, read my article here.

Trust Planning – A family estate planning trust is useful for parents who may not want to pass significant amounts of money to their minor children upon the parent’s deaths.  Trusts allow a parent to spread payments out over a longer period of time, appoint a trustee to manage those payments, provide for investment suggestions or advisors and include provisions to protect a beneficiary child if they have a substance abuse issue.

Trusts can also be useful tools to either bypass the probate process, which in many states can be long and complicated (a revocable trust), or to avoid estate taxation in the form of an irrevocable trust. For more information about how a family estate planning trust can help your family, read my article here.

Guardianship Planning – There are two general types of Guardianship Designations that are important parts of any estate plan.  The first is an adult Guardianship Designation, the second, a Guardianship designation for your children.  A child’s Guardianship Designation allows the parents of a minor to legally give another person the right to be designated by a court as the guardian of the child’s property and person.

Unless you are naming your child’s other biological or legal parent as their guardian, you must name a guardian in your Last Will and Testament. Once named, the designated guardians will still have to go to court to be legally designated the child’s guardian.  Without your nomination in a Will, that person would not be able to seek guardianship.

Securing Parental Rights Through Adoption – While most parents are secure in their parentage to the children living in their homes, many situations do not fit into that norm and basic protections become a vital part of family estate planning.  Same-sex couples must secure rights to the children born into their relationships through parentage order or second or step parent adoption.  Homes where children are living with step parents must pay particular attention to naming a guardian should both biological parents die.  The second or step parent adoption process in New York  is described in detail in this article.

When family estate planning becomes a priority for you, please consider me a resource. For more information on family estate planning, contact Anthony M. Brown at Time for Families and speak to a specialist family lawyer to secure your and your family’s future.

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Meet One of China’s 1st LGBT Couples to Use Assisted Reproduction

Rui Cai and Cleo Wu recently became mothers to twins, placing them among the LGBT parent minority in China. They are also one of the first couples in China to use assisted reproduction to have children.

Their story is amazing since same-sex marriage is still outlawed in China and only heterosexual couples can use assisted reproduction to have children.

 

Cai and Wu found a sperm donor in a US sperm bank. Cai was inseminated with two of Wu’s eggs and the sperm donor’s sperm in a clinic in Portland, Oregon. After returning to China, the couple had their twins in a private hospital in Beijing.anonymous sperm donors

For many LGBT persons in China, it can be difficult to come out to their parents, much less have a family. Cai and Wu were lucky enough to have their parents accept their sexuality.

Cai told NPR, “They think it’s OK for us to choose this homosexual lifestyle. But we’ve got to have offspring. It’s a compromise or a precondition we must meet for them to accept our lifestyle.”

Though their’s is a happy story of family acceptance, Cai and Wu will face some hurdles in the near future such as obtaining proper documentation for their children, like government ID cards, and registering their twins with a school.

“To have a child is really a personal right, is a human right,” Xu says. “But then you have to have permission from the state. It might be difficult for non-Chinese people to imagine or understand this situation, but this is the reality we face.”

May 25, 2016, TheNextFamily.com

Click here to read the entire story.

in Assisted Reproductive Technology / Family Stories / International / Legal / Parenting / Personal Stories  by Anthony Brown 0 comments

Same-Sex Couples and Their Children Speak Out: ‘My Family Is Just as Good as Anyone Else’s’

First comes love, then comes marriage—same sex couples and everyone knows what happens after that.

Children are the expected outcome of matrimony. Now that gay marriages are legal, the kids of their unions are subject to even more scrutiny, on top of the years of criticism from socially conservative groups like Focus on the Family and Americans for Truth About Homosexuality.

But according to a recent study in the Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, the kids are more than just all right; many of them are thriving. While the study focused on the biological children of lesbian households, there’s been tons of research—73 studies, meticulously reviewed by other social scientists—proving that stable same-sex partnerships, just like heterosexual ones, produce physically and emotionally healthy kids. The Root spoke to four same-gender families about the three factors they believe fuel their success.

Family Planning

According to LGBTQ-advocacy organizations like the Family Equality Council, successful gay families are often especially deliberate about planning for children. And many of those families are multiracial, with white parents raising kids of color. Gary Gates, retired research director of the Williams Institute, UCLA School of Law, a research center focused on sexual orientation and gender-identity law and policy, found that among white long-term couples raising children under age 18, 17 percent of single-sex couples have at least one nonwhite child, compared with 3 percent of different-gendered couples. In fact, single-sex white couples are more than five times more likely than their different-gendered counterparts to be raising nonwhite children.more gay couples are embracing surrogacy

Race mattered not for white-and-Latino couple Eva Smith, 44, and Liz Fuentes, 46, of South Orange, N.J., who are using pseudonyms to protect their African-American children’s privacy. Parenting was an essential part of becoming a family, as was careful planning.

“As a woman, [wanting children] was almost innate for me,” says Smith, who has been with Fuentes for 20 years. “I wanted to be a mom, and there are so many children out there who need loving families—we weren’t concerned with the genetics.”

Ten years ago, the couple began the adoption process of their two black sons, Peter and Adam, both age 10. After completing nearby New York’s rigorous process of workshops designed to prepare parents for adoption, which includes extensive background checks, a home study and home inspection, Smith and Fuentes were matched twice by the state with foster children they eventually adopted. The family have since relocated from the busy streets of Brooklyn, N.Y., to the quieter New Jersey suburbs to give their children the best possible quality of life and access to competitive schools that could address the boys’ developmental delays.

Sometimes a child’s geographic upbringing can be both a help and a hindrance. Growing up in rural Maine, for instance, gave Family Equality Council Co-Interim Executive Director Brent Wright, who is white, a quiet life, but left his desire to be a father “a dream deferred” because he’d never seen any gay families. As his community evolved and changed, so did his prospects for parenthood. He and his husband, Sandis, who have been together for 25 years and live in Andover, Mass., with their two black daughters, went forward with adoption after months of classes and meetings with clergy, mentors with social services experience and people of color.

“[We] had a really good grounding in the importance of cultural respect and understanding what it means to transracially adopt,” says Wright. Their girls, Olivia and Noelle, are 7 and 2 and participate in gymnastics, theater and ballet.

lesbian family law

drawing of a happy couple of lesbians and adopted child

Honest Conversations

Though today’s climate for LGBTQ families is stronger than in years past, parents must prepare themselves and their children for the realities of intolerance and hatred of all kinds. Yvonne and Rebecca Johnson, both 33, are a black lesbian couple raising their sons, Raphael, 12, and George, 14, who are Yvonne’s biological children. They live in Columbus, Ga., where their closest neighbor has a Confederate flag proudly on display. (The family’s names have been changed to prevent personal and professional backlash in their conservative hometown.)

“When the kids were young, we explained to them that people might say or do hurtful things [because of our family],” says Yvonne Johnson.

George, a ninth-grader with a passion for acting, is grateful for the confidence instilled by such conversations.

by Tamika Anderson, May 17, 2016 – TheRoot.com

Click here to read the entire article.

in Adoption / Anonymous/Known Donation / Known Donor / Legal / Parenting / Recently Added  by Anthony Brown 0 comments

Estate Planning Trust – Does my family need one?

I get this question a lot, “Do I need an Estate planning trust?” The answer differs for every personal and family situation, but there are some critical reasons why an Estate Planning trust may be right for you.

Before understanding when an Estate Planning Trust is appropriate for you, it is important to understand exactly what they are. There are two types of Estate Planning Trusts, revocable and irrevocable, and two ways to create them, either in a Will, a testamentary trust, or as a standalone document.

Revocable Trusts – A revocable trust is executed during the lifetime of the Grantor, the person creating the trust, and is called an intervivos trust.  The Grantor often has controlling power over the assets in the trust during his or her lifetime.  Revocable trusts are tied to the social security number of the Grantor and provide the Grantor with specific control over the assets contained within the trust, including terminating the trust and transferring any trust assets back to the Grantor.  The most common reasons for revocable trusts are to bypass the probate process for passing assets upon the death of the Grantor and to provide for the management of assets that the Grantor may believe that they cannot manage due to illness.estate planning , estate planning trust, glbt estate planning, lgbt estate planning, gay family law, wills, trusts

Irrevocable Trusts – An irrevocable trust may be created either during the life of the Grantor, an intervivos trust, or in the Grantor’s Last Will and Testament, a testamentary trust.  In the case of the latter, the trust becomes irrevocable upon the death of the Grantor.  The key difference between a revocable trust and an irrevocable trust is that the Grantor completely surrenders control over any assets contained in an irrevocable trust.  Irrevocable trusts also require separate tax ID numbers, and have separate tax filing requirements.  Reasons for creating an irrevocable trust include minimizing estate tax charges on assets passing to non-spousal beneficiaries, such as homes (Qualified Personal Residence Trusts – QPRTs) and life insurance proceeds (Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts – ILITs).  The values of assets which pass through irrevocable trusts are not taxable in the Grantor’s estate; however, there may be a gift tax event which occurs at the time of the initial transfer of an asset into an irrevocable trust.

Other Reasons for an Estate Planning Trust – For Grantors who own real property in a state other than the state of their domicile, a proceeding called an “ancillary probate” is required.  This means that if a person lives in New York and owns real property in Florida, two probate proceedings must be brought: one in New York to pass their New York property and one in Florida to pass the Florida real property.  In order to avoid this unnecessary and expensive double probate process, the title to real property in Florida may be transferred into a New York revocable trust.  This transfer then negates the need for the Florida probate proceeding.  It is critical; however, to actually transfer the title of the Florida property into the New York trust and have that newly transferred title recorded in the appropriate Florida County Clerk’s office.  Simply creating the trust is not enough.

Children’s Trusts – The primary reason why people include an Estate Planning Trust in their Wills, a testamentary trust, is to provide for young children in case something were to happen to both parents before he children reach an age where they can responsibly manage their money.  Children’s trusts allow parents to name a trustee, or money manager, for the assets which will eventually pass to their children, to provide for unexpected circumstances such as drug or alcohol abuse of a child and to stretch out distributions of principal and interest over a controlled period of time.  It is important to note that a Children’s trust cannot name a guardian for the person of the child, only for the property of the child.  This personal guardianship designation can only be made in a Last Will and Testament.

If I have an Estate Planning trust, do I still need a Will? – In a word, yes!  The Estate Planning Trust should be an addition to a person’s estate plan, not a substitution for it.  To see a list of estate planning basics which all individuals and couples, with or without children, should have, visit TimeForFamilies.com.

When you are considering an Estate Planning Trust, please consider me a resource. For more information the basics for estate planning for gay couples, contact Anthony M. Brown at Time for Families and speak to a specialist family lawyer to secure your and your family’s future.

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Italian couple win international second parent adoption case

 

Two gay Italian women have won the right to international second parent adoption, a legal first for the country. All previous verdicts in Italy in favour of lesbian women being legally recognized as the parents of their partner’s children are at the appeal stages.

In its judgment on Friday, Rome’s juvenile court said Marilena Grassadonia, president of the Rainbow Families association, could adopt her wife’s twin boys via international second parent adoption. In turn, her partner adopted Grassadonia’s son. All three were conceived by artificial insemination.

In March, a man won his request to adopt his partner’s child, but rights watchers believed the ruling may have slipped through the net due to an administrative error, with the office of the prosecutor in charge of the case failing to file an appeal in time.adoption

Grassadonia was a vocal campaigner in Italy during the heated debate earlier this year over a contested civil unions bill.

The text, adopted by parliament’s upper house after a clause allowing gay couples second parent adoption was removed, will be examined by the lower house from 9 May.

Italy’s prime minister Matteo Renzi has said he will resort to a confidence vote on the government, if necessary, to make the bill law.

While they wait for a change in the law, courts have been finding in favour of gay couples since 2014 on the basis of current legislation that favours “emotional continuity” for children.

The Guardian – April 30, 2016

Click here to read the entire article.

in In the News / International / Legal / Legislation / Second Parent Adoption  by Anthony Brown 0 comments

The predictable reason why anti-LGBT bills become law

The cavalcade of crazy ginned up by folks fearful of equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Americans was predictable. That far-right conservatives have been wigged out ever since the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage last June is not surprising.  Anti-LGBT bills are popping up all over the country.

Nor is the move by states to pass so-called religious freedom laws. Nor is the push to deny transgender people the dignity of using the bathroom that matches their gender identity. LGBT-rights activist and radio host Michelangelo Signorile predicted as much a year ago in his book “It’s Not Over: Getting beyond Tolerance, Defeating Homophobia, and Winning True Equality.”

 

Also, “Nearly all of the states facing anti-LGBT bills / anti-transgender bills have only 1 or no openly LGBT people serving in their state legislatures,” the report notes.

“One of the reasons the LGBT movement has seen such rapid progress is because our allies have really stepped up. But allies aren’t enough. When LGBT people are serving in public office, and especially in state legislatures, they directly change the conversation,” Aisha Moodie-Mills, president and CEO of Victory Fund and Institute. told me. “Their visibility and their relationships with their colleagues mean the discussion quickly becomes about a real person with a real family. It’s not just political grandstanding on one side and allies pleading their case on the other. Representation matters. Our voices make a huge difference when we’re in those rooms.”rainbowsilhouetteparents

Knowing this then, the opposite actions recently by Gov. Pat McCrory (R-N.C.) and Gov. Nathan Deal (R-Ga.) have a bit more context.

With lightning speed, the North Carolina legislature passed and McCrory signed into law legislation that not only strips the state of antidiscrimination protections for LGBT folks but also requires transmen and transwomen to use bathrooms based on the sex on their birth certificate and not on their gender identity. The Tar Heel State has no openly LGBT members of its legislature.

Meanwhile, down in the Peach State, Deal vetoed a so-called religious freedom bill. “I do not think we have to discriminate against anyone to protect the faith-based community in Georgia,” he said announcing his decision on March 28. Georgia has three openly LGBT legislators.

by Jonathan Capehart, Washington Post, April 29, 2016

Click here to read the entire article.

in In the News / Legal / Legislation  by Anthony Brown 0 comments

Compassionate Surrogacy – Options For Your Family

adoption and surroagcy lgbt family planning

Compassionate surrogacy, sometime referred to as altruistic surrogacy, is the process where a woman, the compassionate surrogate, carries a child of the intended parents with the intention of giving that child to the parents once it is born.

A compassionate surrogate does not receive compensation for her services.  It is a special person who can be a compassionate surrogate.  When is compassionate surrogacy the right choice for your family?  The answers depend upon several factors.

 

  1. Compensated surrogacy is currently illegal in 3 states: New York, Michigan and Louisiana. While that doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t use a surrogate in those states, entering a compensated surrogacy contract could incur criminal penalties depending on your state of residence. Compensated surrogacy means that the surrogate mother receives a fee for participating in the surrogacy process.
  1. If you want to go through compassionate surrogacy in New York, the surrogate cannot accept compensation outside of statutorily allowed medical and legal costs. The surrogate in these cases is often known by, and close with, the intended parents. It may be a family member as well. You will need a lawyer to determine what costs are and are not allowed to be paid by you, and also to draft a Memorandum of Understanding between the intended parents and the surrogate mother to outline the process and provide for all possibilities that may occur during the process from insemination to birth, and beyond.
  2. A surrogacy, or ART (Assisted Reproductive Technology) attorney must have extensive experience in these types of agreements and can help you and your partner or spouse learn what to expect, average timelines, required paperwork, and even let you know the average costs as well as what is and isn’t legal for you to pay for during the pregnancy.
  3. A compassionate surrogacy attorney can help you manage the relationship with the surrogate and provide dispute resolution that may be needed throughout the surrogacy process, in most cases through the surrogate mother’s separate attorney.
  4. The most critical aspect of compassionate surrogacy is establishing the parental rights of the non-biological intended parent.       Your attorney can help the non-biological parent petition for second or step parent adoption so that both parents have a legal relationship established to the child as soon as possible. Read this article for more information about the second/step parent adoption process.
  5. It’s extremely important to have a lawyer draft any agreement or Memorandum of Understanding between the intended parents and the surrogate mother. If there is a misstep in the contract, you and your child could potentially go through a lengthy and painful custody battle (not to mention the aforementioned criminal penalties in NY) should the mother change her mind. It would be devastating to lose your child over a technicality in the contract.
  6. The hardest part of the process to really grasp is that the Memorandum of Understanding is technically unenforceable in New York.  It’s purpose is to have the parties go through the process of discussing the elements of the journey and the possible contingencies that may occur.
  7. It is critical that psychological support services are provided for both the surrogate and the intended parents and that both parties thoroughly understand the process before entering into any agreement.

gay surrogacy, compassionate surrogacy, altruistic surrogacy, New York surrogacy, gay surrogacy, surrogacy

There is currently legislation in New York State that would legalize compensated surrogacy. The Child Parent Security Act would not only make compensated surrogacy a legal option for NY parents, it would also allow both intended parents to be immediately legally recognized as parents at the birth of the child, thus negating the need for the lengthy process of second or step parent adoption by the non-biological intended parent. The CPSA would further protect the rights of surrogates, making sure they are not legally responsible in any way for a child they never intended to parent. While the LGBT community, as well as opposite-sex couples who may need a surrogate, are hopeful it will pass, the bill has been stuck in committee for many years.

If you’re thinking of expanding your family with the help of a compassionate surrogacy, start the process by speaking with an experienced attorney so you can get a solid idea of what to expect, and even if it’s the right decision for your family. As a leading expert in the Family and Estates division of Albert W. Chianese & Associations, Anthony M. Brown is here to help your family with all of its growing legal needs. Call 212-953-6447 or email anthony@timeforfamilies.com to answer any questions you may have concerning compassionate surrogacy or any legal questions concerning same-sex family planning.

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in Featured Articles / IVF / Legal / Parenting / Surrogacy  by Anthony Brown 2 comments

Two Moms Talk About Second Parent Adoption

Not all LGBT parents in the U.S. can put both parents’ names on their children’s birth certificate.  Second Parent adoption can help.

And even if they can, many lawyers still advise that gay couples go through a second parent adoption as a means to protect their parental rights to their children.

Brandy and Susan from The Next Family discuss their second parent adoption experience so other LGBT parents can gain some insight.

The moms explain the importance of second parent adoption by providing the example of traveling internationally to countries that don’t recognize same-sex marriage or families. By going through the process, step parent adoptions give both parents the same rights to their children thus protecting them in the U.S., overseas, and even in custody cases.second parent adoption

“And at the end of the day, I think it’s wise to do it,” Brandy said.

Though she does share her displeasure with the entire process that LGBT parents have to go through that straight parents do not:

“We fight so hard for our LGBT rights and we’ve gotten to this point and this place in our country…and [step parent adoptions] sort of takes you back. Like, really?”

Brandy and Susan explain the process that their family went through when it came to their step parent adoption. It involved finding a good lawyer, filling out an adoption application, and speaking with a social worker.

When speaking about the social worker experience, Brandy said, “They were asking us sort of ridiculous, in my opinion, parenting questions.” She also adds that you should prepare yourself for this experience which may be uncomfortable: “I think it was really insulting to me that they were asking her these questions and me these questions and I had had this child and we had together made this decision together to have this child.”

Following the social worker meeting, families will have to go to court to complete the adoption process.

For Susan’s court date, the judge asked her, “Why should I grant you this right to adopt this child?” Susan said she responded quite awkwardly with, “Well, I’m kind of doing a lot of mother things.” She was happy though with how the judge responded, “You’re the mother and that’s why I’m doing it.” Susan said she could tell that the judge thought that the entire process was also a “silly precursor” to establish her parental rights.

Click here to read the entire article.

By Alex Temblador – TheNextFamily.com – April 15, 2016

in Anonymous/Known Donation / Family Stories / Legal / Personal Stories / Recently Added / Second Parent Adoption / Step Parent Adoption  by Anthony Brown 0 comments

Gay couple wins custody of their one-year-old daughter from Thai surrogate mother

A same-sex American-Spanish gay couple won a high-profile custody battle Tuesday against a Thai surrogate mother who gave birth to their child but then decided she wanted to keep the baby when she found out they were gay.

Bangkok’s Juvenile and Family Court ruled that the legal guardian of the 15-month-old child, named Carmen, is her American biological father, Gordon Lake, and against the child’s Thai surrogate mother, said Lake’s lawyer Rachapol Sirikulchit.

‘The court has granted legal custody of Carmen Lake to Gordon Lake, my client, and (said) that my client is her only guardian,’ Rachapol said.international surrogacy

Lake and his partner, Spaniard Manuel Santos, both 41, have been stuck in Thailand since launching their legal battle after Carmen was born in January 2015.

Santos emerged from the court smiling and with tears in his eyes.

‘We won,’ he told reporters. ‘We are really happy. … This nightmare is going to end soon.’

‘After 15 months, Carmen will fly to Spain,’ where the couple lives, Santos said.

Rachapol said the couple would not be able to take Carmen out of the country right away pending the possibility of an appeal by the Thai surrogate mother, Patidta Kusolsang. She was not in court and her intentions could not immediately be learned.

Lake and Santos celebrated their legal victory on the ‘Bringcarmenhome’ Facebook page set up to support their custody fight.

‘There is no way to express with words what we are feeling!’ they posted. ‘We are crying, our family is crying, our friends are crying, and we are sure all the Thai people who showed their love for us during this time are crying too.’

‘Today is a huge day for love, for family and for truth. And it is also a big day for LGBT rights,’ said their posting, referring to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights.

The case was seen as complicated by the fact that Thai law does not recognize same-sex marriages and also by a new law that bans commercial surrogacy, which took effect after Carmen’s birth. Rachapol said the court’s ruling was based on a transitory clause in the law allowing the intended parents of any baby born before the law took effect to request to be the legal parents.

Click here to read the entire article.

DailyMail.co.uk by Associated Press – April 26, 2016

in In the News / International / Legal / Surrogacy  by Anthony Brown 0 comments