Same-sex marriageOne child; three legal parentsCanadian court rules that a boy has a dad and two moms:In a development that is believed to be the first of its kind in Canada -- and perhaps the first in North America -- three adults (two women and one man) have been given legal parental status to a five-year-old boy. The case involves a birth father, a birth mother, and the lesbian partner of the birth mother. It is not unusual for a lesbian partner to adopt the child that the couple is raising. However, in the past it had always involved fathers who were not active in the family or were unknown because they donated sperm anonymously. In this case, the father is known and is active in the child's life, at the request of the two mothers. In Ontario law -- and perhaps the law in all other North American jurisdictions -- a child has only been able to have a maximum of two parents recognized by the provincial government. Thus, the three adults had two options:
Their main concern was the possibility of the birth mother dying. That would leave the lesbian partner without any official recognition as a parent to the child. She would would not be able to make decisions on behalf of her child, even though she had been functioning as a parent to the child since his birth. The three adults mutually agreed to take the second approach. In 2003, the Superior Court of Justice dismissed the case, stating that it did not have the necessary jurisdiction to grant parenthood to a third person. But, on 2007-JAN-02, the Ontario Court of Appeal overturned the lower court ruling and granted parenthood to the partner. Justice Marc Rosenberg, writing on behalf of Chief Justice Roy McMurtry and Justice Jean-Marc Labrosse, ruled that there is a gap in provincial legislation. This enabled the court to exercise its "parens patriae" right to act as the guardian of a minor. Justice Rosenberg wrote:
The partner's lawyer, Peter Jervis, said of his client:
He was unable to reach the family by phone, so he sent an Email with the subject "Congratulations, you're a mom." Because of the ruling, in the unlikely event of the death of the birth mother, their son would not lose both mothers. The media has not reported on the reaction of the three parents. We suspect that they are probably pleased with the increased security and protection that this decision gives to themselves and their son. No decision has been made yet by the interveners on whether to appeal the ruling. Criticism from the Alliance for Marriage and Family:This religiously conservative umbrella group consists of the Institute of Marriage and Family Canada, an organization founded by the fundamentalist Christian group Focus on the Family, along with the Catholic Civil Rights League, REAL Women of Canada, the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada and the Christian Legal Fellowship. They were interveners in the case and are unanimously opposed to the ruling. They feel that this decision would go against the traditional family unit. David Quist, executive director of the Institute of Marriage and Family Canada, suggests that a royal commission may need to be called to study the future of the family. He said:
In their most recent eReview, the Institute of Marriage and Family Canada wrote:
Quist's belief about the superior parenting of a married biological mother and father is held by all or essentially all religious conservatives. Studies have universally shown that, on average, children do better when raised by two parents rather than by a single parent. However, most studies which were not conducted by religious conservatives have shown that the genders of the parents do not seem to matter. Opposition by the Institute for Canadian Values:The Institute for Canadian Values (ICV) issued a press release on 2007-JAN-03:
Opposition from Chatham Daily News:The Chatham, ON newspaper urged the provincial government to waste no time to launch a challenge to the Appeal Court decision. They wrote that the decision:
An appeal would be to the Supreme Court of Canada. If they accepted the Appeal Court decision, then that decision would apply Canada-wide. References used:
Copyright © 2007 by Ontario
Consultants on Religious Tolerance
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