matriarch
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Lesbians Now Legally Parents After Insemination
By Amita Parashar
Children born through artificial insemination can now legally have two female parents at birth in Washington, D.C., thanks to a new law. Prior to the law, the female partner of a birth mother would have to adopt the child at birth to become a legal parent.
The District's Domestic Partnership Judicial Determination Parentage Act of 2009 allows a consenting spouse or partner to appear on the child's birth certificate as a parent without a complicated adoption process.
American University law professor Nancy Polikoff, who helped draft the legislation, noted that when a heterosexual married couple uses artificial insemination, the husband does not have to adopt the child.
"He is the child's legal parent automatically. Now the child of a lesbian couple will have the same economic and emotional security," she told The Washington Post. "A mother should not have to adopt her own child."
The law is the first of its kind in the country. A similar law goes into effect in January 2010 in New Mexico. The D.C. Council voted earlier this year to recognize out-of-district same-sex marriages and expects to debate marriage equality later this year.
By Amita Parashar
Children born through artificial insemination can now legally have two female parents at birth in Washington, D.C., thanks to a new law. Prior to the law, the female partner of a birth mother would have to adopt the child at birth to become a legal parent.
The District's Domestic Partnership Judicial Determination Parentage Act of 2009 allows a consenting spouse or partner to appear on the child's birth certificate as a parent without a complicated adoption process.
American University law professor Nancy Polikoff, who helped draft the legislation, noted that when a heterosexual married couple uses artificial insemination, the husband does not have to adopt the child.
"He is the child's legal parent automatically. Now the child of a lesbian couple will have the same economic and emotional security," she told The Washington Post. "A mother should not have to adopt her own child."
The law is the first of its kind in the country. A similar law goes into effect in January 2010 in New Mexico. The D.C. Council voted earlier this year to recognize out-of-district same-sex marriages and expects to debate marriage equality later this year.