Parenthood: Now legal

The Associated Press reported Monday that the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled that lesbian partners are both the legal parents of any child born to them via artificial insemination. Our point of view? Good job, Indiana, and we hope the rest of the country sits up and takes notice. \nThe decision came following a Monroe Circuit Court judge's ruling that a Bloomington woman, Dawn King, was not the legal parent of a child born to her former partner, Stephanie Benham, because King was not a biological parent. \nThe court also "chided state lawmakers for being slow to deal with advances in reproductive technology and urged the General Assembly to address the current social reality of unconventional families," according to the AP report. \nIt's about time, we say. Every family is unconventional in some way. It seems downright silly to stand in the way of a loving parent's desire to have a relationship with a child to whom they have been a parent. Gay couples, for the most part, have to try very hard to have a child -- the processes of artificial insemination and adoption are both lengthy and expensive -- and severing ties with one parent simply because she did not give birth seems medieval in thinking. Parenthood isn't determined by biology, it's determined by love. The "current social reality" of unconventional families is indeed a reality, one with which the country has been struggling for some time. Single-parent families, families with adopted children and families headed by biological grandparents are all unconventional, but because sexual orientation doesn't enter into the mix, they don't suffer the slings and arrows of social phobias. This unconventional reality has long been a feature of American society; it's just nice that some governmental body is recognizing it and offering support.\nThis will likely have some sort of impact on the pending state debate over same-sex marriage, but that's not today's topic. The issue directly at hand is families: We're in favor of families, in all their forms. Micah Clark, the executive director of American Family Association of Indiana, said that this decision "essentially renders marriage and fathers meaningless." This isn't the case, clearly, because not all families are parented by lesbians. When that day comes, it may be prudent to worry about the meaninglessness of fathers. But that day isn't here. Today's issue, as we said above, is families. \nA child forms bonds with the adults in his or her life. Removing a parent is always traumatic, but legally restricting that relationship is infinitely more damaging. If the criterion for family legislation is the best interest of the child, this ruling just makes sense. In the court case, the child recognized both women as mothers and King paid child support and had regular visitation. King, just like Benham, was the child's mother. Legislation and court rulings won't change that. Now, thankfully, legal reality and social reality are saying the same thing: It's love, not biology, that makes a parent.