Court grants lesbian couple full parental rights

Partner can bypass adoption of baby under artificial insemination law

BY KATIE WANG, Star-Ledger Staff, Friday, May 27, 2005

A lesbian couple who conceived a baby girl through artificial insemination has won the right to have both of their names placed on the child's birth certificate.
 

	New Jersey now recognizes that Vivian has two legal mommies with equal parenting rights: Jeanne LoCicero (left) and Kimberly Robinson. Picture from WashingtonBlade.com

Jeanne LoCicero, 31, and Kimberly Robinson, 35, will be granted full parental rights immediately under the court order, bypassing the time-consuming process of "second parent" adoption.  Robinson gave birth to Vivian Ryan LoCicero on April 30.

The couple live in Essex County.  The order is the first of its kind in the state.

"The passage of the domestic partnership law has changed the climate quite a bit, and the fact that it is grossly unfair to the child, who is really the center of the case," said William Singer, an attorney representing the couple on behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey.

Singer said he brought a similar case before the court five years ago, but lost the case.

This time around, Superior Court Judge Patricia Medina Talbert, sitting in Newark, agreed with the lesbian plaintiffs in the case.  The couple argued they should be afforded the same rights as a heterosexual couple under the state's Artificial Insemination Statute.

That statute grants immediate parental rights to a husband who has agreed to have his wife artificially inseminated, even though he is not the biological father of the child.

"The court has no basis to question the emotional and psychological commitment of the plaintiffs to be parents who will act in the best interest of Vivian Ryan," Talbert wrote.  "Under these circumstances, Vivian Ryan should not be left behind."

Although the order is not a blanket rule that applies to all lesbian couples, the case does provide legal precedent for future couples who wish to pursue the same rights.

Robinson and LoCicero met in the fall of 2003 and lived together in Brooklyn by the end of that year.  They registered in New York as domestic partners, then got married on Aug. 7, 2004, in Ontario, Canada.  They eventually moved to New Jersey and bought a house in Essex County.

The couple decided to conceive a child, using the sperm from an anonymous donor.  They chose to name the child Vivian after both of their grandmothers.

On March 21, one month before the baby was born, the couple filed a petition in court, asking it to legally recognize LoCicero's maternity immediately.  Typically, lesbian couples must go through the "second parent" adoption process after the baby is born, a procedure that can take between six months to two years.  "Second parent" adoptions give same-sex couples legal rights.  After the adoption is completed, then both names are placed on the birth certificate.

But in the meantime, the child's parental protections are in limbo, said Edward Barocas, the legal director for ACLU-NJ.  For example, if the nonbiological mother dies, then it is unclear whether the child would be entitled to any Social Security benefits.

"A child in the same exact circumstances was denied Social Security benefits when his nonbiological mother, who was the breadwinner of the family, died before the adoption could take place," Barocas said, recalling another situation.

In order to avoid that scenario, LoCicero and Robinson filed a petition in court for full parental rights, citing the Artificial Insemination Statute.

They learned last week that the judge ruled in their favor and celebrated with their friends and family.

"We were so thrilled and relieved," said LoCicero, an attorney with the ACLU.  "It was such a relief to know that our child has the same protections as a child born to a heterosexual couple."

Katie Wang works in the Essex County bureau.  She may be reached at kwang@starledger.com or (973) 392-1504.