Woman Seeks Joint Custody of Twins With Former Partner

In another example of the labyrinth of legal rulings arising from gay couples, a woman in Santa Cruz, Calif., is seeking joint custody of the twins she and her former female partner were raising.

The case contains a wrinkle. As San Jose Mercury News reported, the biological mother is now involved in a romantic relationship with the sperm donor. The two are seeking joint custody of the two boys, Max and Levi.

"It's the first case I'm aware of where a lesbian couple in a committed relationship has brought a child into the world, then after breaking up, the biological mother has tried to sub in the biological father," Deborah Wald, a family law attorney who, along with the National Center for Lesbian Rights, represents the non-biological mother, told the paper. Wald considers a win a dangerous precedent for gay parents.

Maggie Quale and Shawn Wallace, the biological parents, live together. But Kim Smith believes she should be granted joint custody because Quale agreed to raise the children with her.

Smith never formally adopted the twins; however, the two women are listed as parents on the boys' birth certificates. They also still carry the surname Smith-Quale.

A judge has granted Smith temporary visitation rights. The children were conceived through insemination, not sex. Quale has another child, a son, 8, from a previous marriage to a man.

Quale claims she never legitimized her relationship with Smith "because of persistent problems." But she didn't provide details.

The case highlights the problems that are arising as more and more gay and lesbian couples have children--and then break up.

In a case earlier this month, an Illinois judge ruled that a woman could take her children far away from their biological father to live with her and her female partner.

In a sensational case that has received national attention, a woman who has been denied custody of her child is on the lam. The case has attracted attention from anti-gay groups, who support the mother; while gay groups are outraged. Police are looking for the mother and child.

Late last year, a New Jersey judge ruled that the surrogate mother of twin girls be granted sole custody. The woman had originally agreed to have the children for a gay male couple.

In an in-depth survey of the issues, EDGE reporter Matthew Pilecki quoted gay activist Cathy Renna: "The advent of the kinds of technology we now see used commonly makes it clear that the courts need to better understand and take into account the many diverse family structures that exist, in which all parties need and deserve equal treatment."