A landmark legal battle between two lesbians who each claim they
are the mother of their child has divided the opinion of Florida's
legal system.
One half of the pair, who had been together for over a decade but
cannot be named, claims she is the biological mother because she
donated the egg which was later fertilized.
The other woman claims she's the mother because the egg was
implanted in her and she was the person who eventually gave
birth.
The dispute has reportedly split the judiciary in Florida,
according to the Daily Mail.
The courts, who later granted custody to both women, was told that
the child considered both women to be her mothers, despite only one
- the woman who carried her - being named on the birth
certificate.
When they split up, she relocated to Australia without informing
anyone - taking the child with her, sparking a national
search.
Shortly after, she was traced and returned to the U.S. where the
legal fight for parental control began.
According to the Orlando Sentinel newspaper, a circuit judge in
Brevard County, Florida, sided with the birth mother, writing that
it "broke his heart" to make the ruling.
A second state appeals court then overturned the decision, arguing
that both women should be able to share parental
responsibility.
Although this is considered a new case in terms of gay parenting,
it echoes thousands of situations endured by heterosexual men who
father children, but are powerless to see them.
Florida law, which gives only the woman who carried a child
parental rights and responsibilities, is out-dated and violates the
Constitution according to The 5th District Court of Appeal.
