Decision in the Mullen case

July 13, 2011

Sobering Decision from the Ohio Supreme Court

July 13th 2011 Posted to Current Events

The Ohio Supreme Court held yesterday that a lesbian couple’s lack of a formal co-parenting or custody agreement meant that the non-biological mother had no custodial rights to the child. The justices upheld the rulings of the lower court, holding that biological mother Kelly Mullen of Cincinnati did not agree to share legal custody of her daughter Lucy, now 5, when she named her partner Michele Hobbs as a “co-parent” on her power-of-attorney documents, despite the fact that the couple had planned the in-vitro pregnancy and raised and supported Lucy together. The custody battle has been ongoing since Mullen and Lucy moved out of the family home in 2007.

There is a sad and important lesson here, not just for gay and lesbian couples, but for anyone who is co-parenting a child to whom they are not biologically related. A properly executed custody and guardianship agreement that satisfies the laws of your state is essential to protect not just the rights of the non-biological parent, but more importantly the best interests of the child. Please find a lawyer who specializes in adoption, child custody, and guardianship issues, and who is supportive of your family situation.

My heart goes out to little Lucy, who is deprived of a relationship with a parent who raised her to the age of two, a vulnerable age for separation trauma.

What do you think of this case? Post your thoughts in the comments or email me at evaughan (at) vaughanfirm (dot) com.