This case carries implications for any gay or lesbian adoptive parent in Alabama.
In August, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled against a lesbian mother saying the adoption of her three children was invalid.
The woman, only identified as V.L., adopted the children after deciding with her former partner to use artificial insemination. Before the split, both women agreed to the adoption. The adoptions took place in 2007 in Georgia, but V.L.’s former partner, identified as E.L., argued the adoption is not valid in Alabama. This led to the court “voiding” the adoption in the state of Alabama.
This decision has kept the mother from gaining visitation rights with her three children.
The court’s earlier decision to not recognise the adoption has been temporarily blocked by the US Supreme Court although the justices did not mention visitation rights in the ruling.
The stay will remain in effect until the justices hand back a ruling but will be terminated if the court decides not to take the case.
The lawyers representing V.L. have stated that the case carries implications for any gay or lesbian adoptive parent who travels or moves to Alabama.
In court papers, lawyers told the justices that same-sex adoptions “have been granted since at least the mid-1980s, long before same-sex couples could marry.”
V.L. has said that she is “overjoyed” that she will be reunited with her three children. She added, “It’s been so long—more time that I ever thought I could bear—since we have been able to be together and just do the everyday things that parents do with their children, like having dinner together and helping them with their homework. “