In re Adoption of Luke
263 Neb. 365, 640 N.W.2d 374 (2002)
B.P. and A.E. were not married
but living together. B.P. had a child named Luke. A.E. wanted to adopt
the child.
The child was conceived
through an anonymous sperm donor.
B.P. and A.E. were a lesbian
couple, forbidden to marry in Nebraska.
The Trial Court denied the
adoption. B.P. and A.E. appealed.
The Trial Court found that
in order for a non-stepparent to adopt, the birth parent had to
relinquish their parental rights. In this case, B.P. was not
relinquishing rights.
B.P. unsuccessfully argued
that her consent was the equivalent of a relinquishment.
The Appellate Court affirmed.
The Appellate Court found
that adoption law was a purely Statutory issue, and the Statute was quite
clear that unmarried adults could not adopt stepchildren. There was no
wiggle room.
In a dissent, it was argued
that consent should be good enough, you should not have to relinquish.
The majority decision is not
followed by all States.
One way to get around this scenario
is to have one woman donate the egg and the other woman carry the child to
term. That way they'd both have a biological connection to the baby!
