A miscellany of LGBT parenting news, from the personal to the political, that I haven’t covered elsewhere.
Politics and Law
- An appellate court in New Jersey ruled that a same-sex stepparent can seek custody or visitation with a child she has raised from a young age if it is in child’s best interests. The National Center for Lesbian Rights, which filed a friend of the court brief in the case, explained, “The court recognized that every child has a strong interest in maintaining a relationship with a psychological parent, even if the child has two other legal parents, and even if the psychological parent was not married to one of the parents.”
- CBS Minnesota looks at how legalizing marriage for same-sex couples in the state has made it easier for a child to have two legal parents from the moment of birth (though they should note that most LGBT family lawyers still recommend doing a second-parent adoption for protection in other states and countries).
- India’s federal cabinet has moved to ban same-sex couples from adopting children. It is now up to Parliament whether to ratify the law. LGBT advocates now also worry that the government will ban individual LGBT people from adopting as well.
Family Creation
- A new national sperm bank in the U.K. is scheduled to launch in October 2014. It is designed to address the current shortage of donor sperm, reduce the use of unscreened sperm, and “help those from ethnic minorities to gain better access to culturally matched donors,” reports Pink Families.
Family Profiles
- “You don’t have to be superhuman to be a parent,” says Gail, a mom in Merseyside, England, who adopted two siblings with her partner Suzanne in 2013.  Gay Star News profiles the family.
- The Seattle Lesbian interviews comedian and lesbian mom Wanda Sykes “on kids, family, and hitting the road.” Skykes is raising five-year-old twins with her spouse Alex.
- Yahoo News profiles transgender parents Nick and Bianca Bowser.