Court: No Parental Rights For Woman After Same-Sex Relationship
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DETROIT (CBSMiami/AP) - A woman whose same-sex relationship ended before gay marriage was made legal does not have rights to a child her former partner gave birth to in 2008, a Michigan appeals court ruled Wednesday.
The case, which comes a year after the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for same-sex marriage across the country, raises complex issues, the court said.
Michelle Lake and Kerri Putnam were together for 13 years until 2014 but didn't marry during that time. Lake, who is being represented by The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, said she deserves to enjoy the rights that would have been granted to her if they had been married.
Putnam gave birth to a boy, now 8, during their relationship, but she no longer allows Lake to see him.
"We simply do not believe it is appropriate for courts to retroactively impose the legal ramifications of marriage onto unmarried couples several years after their relationship has ended," the appeals court said. "That, in our view, is beyond the role of the judiciary."
The court said Lake has no parental rights under Michigan law because the boy wasn't born during a marriage.
"This is true whether the couple involved is a heterosexual or a same-sex couple," it said.
The court overturned decisions by a Washtenaw County judge, who had awarded parenting time to Lake. Judge Darlene O'Brien last Fall said the best interests of the child should be considered.
Appeals court Judge Douglas Shapiro said there was no evidence that Lake and Putnam would have chosen marriage years ago if it had been legal in Michigan. He said the court might rule differently in a future case if there's evidence that a same-sex couple clearly wanted to marry before 2015 but couldn't because of the state's ban on gay marriage.
"I believe the courts would be required to recognize the parental rights of the non-biological parent," Shapiro wrote.
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