New York’s highest court ruled this week in a custody case that gave a non-biological mom the right to seek custody and visitation of the child she and her former partner had created and raised together. Great, right?
Yes, for that one mom. But the court said the non-biological mother only had that right because she and the biological mother had gone to Vermont to get a civil union, which gave her parental rights in Vermont that New York was obligated to respect. The court explicitly upheld an earlier ruling that allows only biological or adoptive parents to seek custody and visitation.
The expansion to civil-unioned couples is welcome, but more is needed.
For a closer look at the case, and what might be happening in New York to address these matters, see my article at Keen News Service.