Press Release - June 29, 1999
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Affirms Visitation for Non-Bio Lesbian Mom

(Boston, Massachusetts) In a 4-2 decision, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) today ruled that a woman, identified as E.O., is a parent of the son she and her former partner jointly raised.

L.M., the biological mother, had urged the Court to sever all contact between the child and E.O. because E.O. is not a biological or adoptive parent, and because no law in Massachusetts specifically allows contact in these circumstances. The SJC today recognized a non-biological parent to be a de facto parent where she had participated in the decision to have a child and the raising of the child with her former partner.

Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) represented E.O. on appeal, together with trial attorney E. Oliver Fowlkes of Fowlkes, Jacoby & Kaplan in Boston. According to GLAD attorney Mary Bonauto, who argued before the SJC, “This is a victory for the child, now four years old, who has now been spared the devastation of losing 1 of the 2 parents he has known his whole life. It also puts Massachusetts on record as saying that ‘the family that must be accorded respect in this case is the family formed by the plaintiff, the defendant, and the child.’ For too long, the court house door was slammed shut to families not
related by the traditional markers of birth, marriage and adoption. It has now been cracked open to those people who can show that they are de facto parents.”

Attorney Fowlkes added, “We now look forward to going to court on the real issues, namely what custody and visitation and support arrangement is in this child’s best interests.”

E.O. added, “My son frequently asks me, ‘Mommy when will the Judge let us be together?’ Today I celebrate that the Court recognized the bonds of love and will allow me to pursue contact with my son. My son knows that I am one of the two parents who brought him into the world, and teaches him to sing, read, and to believe that good things usually happen. Today’s decision affirms these lessons.”

In the case decided, the 2 women had been in a committed lesbian relationship for 13 ½ years. They did everything they could legally to signify their commitment to each other as “life partners.” The joy of their lives, a son, was born in 1995. L.M. was the birth mother and E.O. cut his umbilical cord. They named him for E.O.’s grandfather and held a baby naming ceremony for him with both sides of their families participating. They signed many legal documents and even a detailed co-parenting agreement before and after the baby was born. They cared jointly for their son in every way until the couple separated in May, 1998, when their son was 3 ½ years old.

After the couple separated, L.M. refused E.O. any contact with their son. E.O. was awarded temporary visitation by Judge John P. Cronin of the Probate and Family Court. A Single Justice of the Appeals Court reversed the temporary visitation order. E.O. then appealed to a Single Justice of the SJC, and Justice John Greaney reinstated temporary visitation. L.M.’s appeal to the full SJC followed.

A friend of the court brief urging continued contact between E.O. and the child was filed by attorneys Pauline Quirion and Gretchen Van Ness on behalf of Greater Boston Legal Services, Mass. Chap. of the Nat’l Ass’n of Social Workers, Mass. Human Services Coalition, Mass. Law Reform Inst., Mass. Lesbian and Gay Bar Ass’n, Women’s Bar Ass’n of Mass. and the Youth Law Center.

GLAD is New England's leading legal rights organization for lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and people with HIV. GLAD's mission is to achieve full equality and justice for all individuals in these groups, primarily through impact litigation and education.