US Supreme Court rules for adoptive lesbian mother

The US Supreme Court has overturned the Alabama Supreme Court’s refusal to recognise an adoption by a non-biological lesbian mother.

The case concerned a same-sex couple, known only as V.L. and E.L., who were in a relationship for 16 years, during which E.L. gave birth to their three children (a girl, now 13, and boy and girl twins, both 11).

The Alabama couple temporarily moved to the state of Georgia so that V.L. could formally adopt the children, with her partner’s full consent, and then moved back to Alabama.

After they broke up five years ago, the biological mother refused to allow V.L. to see the children and argued that the adoption was not legal in Alabama, which the state’s Supreme Court agreed with.

On Monday, the US Supreme Court overturned the ruling and said that V.L. must be granted her full parental rights to the children.

In a statement, an “overjoyed” V.L. said: “I have been my children’s mother in every way for their whole lives. I thought that adopting them meant that we would be able to be together always. When the Alabama court said my adoption was invalid and I wasn’t their mother, I didn’t think I could go on.”

She added that, ” The Supreme Court has done what’s right for my family.”

“No adoptive parent or child should have to face the uncertainty and loss of being separated years after their adoption just because another state’s court disagrees with the law that was applied in their adoption,” commented National Center for Lesbian Rights Family Law Director Cathy Sakimura, who represented V.L.

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) praised the court’s decision. “Any attempt to deny legal rights to our families is reprehensible, and this ruling establishes that bias and discrimination cannot be allowed to undermine the bond between LGBT parents and their children,” said HRC Legal Director Sarah Warbelow.

“The nation’s highest court today ruled in the best interests of these children, setting a firm precedent for others across our nation. These children have two parents, and should have the security that comes with legal recognition.”