I have a lot I need to blog about. Lucy's two month update, Christmas in Virginia with my family, Christmas here with Susan's family, our return to work, etc. I was all ready to do that, but then something came across my Facebook feed that instantly made me sad. You can Google it, but there has been a high profile case regarding second parent adoptions in NC that has been in the NC Supreme Court (Julia Boseman) and the decision was handed down yesterday. Second parent adoptions can no longer be filed in North Carolina. This means that before yesterday, Susan could be deemed a legal parent to Lucy and Theo without my having to waive my parental rights. Not anymore. The case was filed by the biological mother to a little boy who was every bit as much Ms. Boseman's child as Lucy and Theo are Susan's. But, the couple (one of whom happened to be a senator) broke up and the biological mother decided to sue to overturn the adoption. Well, she won once she finally appealed high enough. The kicker is that the supreme court didn't overturn the shared custody granted by the lower courts, so while the biological mother may have wanted to exclude Ms. Boseman for their child's life, she didn't. All she did was ruin the chance for the rest of us to obtain what she squandered. So completely unfair.
In 2010, it boggles my mind that we are still dealing with issues like this. And yes, while it is a good thing that the custody issue was upheld (as it sets legal precendent to give non-biological co-parents custodial rights), why do marginalized groups have to continue to accept dinner scraps with a pat on the head? We aren't asking for much. Simply asking for our children to be protected legally, like all other children are. Men who impregnate women during an anonymous one night stand have parental rights by default, yet someone like Susan who was there not only for conception, but the births of both of our children and who has been every bit of a parent to them as I have have NO legal rights at all.
Look at us. Don't we deserve what is freely given to other families?
You totally deserve what is given to other families - you ARE "other families"! I have to admit that until the repeal of DADT, I didn't really realize there was an actual BAN on people in the military because of their sexual orientation. I mean, really? You are banning people from protecting our country because of this? (I know, where have I been for the last 100 years.) But this issue you are dealing with now in NC sucks. It's not right, and I am so sorry. NOT.FAIR.
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