# High Court on same sex parenting disputes



## NatGamble (Mar 1, 2007)

Just thought some of you might be interested in a case just published from the High Court - P&L (minors) 2011 - about a lesbian and gay couple co-parenting arrangement which had broken down. It's a decision after years of litigation, and the dads were ultimately given contact (the detail being quite complicated) against the mothers' wishes.

There haven't as yet been many of these sorts of cases, so the courts are setting the rules about how they deal with these sorts of disputes. Encouragingly the court has been pretty clear that traditional concepts of family law don't apply (quite right!) and interestingly there's a pretty clear indication that the court will look closely at what everyone's intentions were at the outset, as well as the current state of affairs.

There's more info if you are interested on our blog at http://www.nataliegambleassociates.co.uk/blog/2012/02/10/how-to-avoid-a-known-donor-dispute/.

Natalie


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## Candy76 (Feb 19, 2011)

Hi Natalie, thanks for making people with known donors aware every now and so often.

Just out of curiosity: Does / did this situation change since both women can be on the birth certificate? Can a donor still have any legal come back if there is no written agreement saying he will be part of the child's life, when the child had already got 2 legal parents?

We had a session with you about 4 years ago before we started treatment, and still haven't made it!


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## wrighty2 (May 24, 2011)

Really interesting, thank you, may be also worth re posting on the donor conception links? xx


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## NatGamble (Mar 1, 2007)

Hi Candy, and sorry for all your bad luck so far - that's rubbish  


It's an interesting question.  So far all the disputes heard by the courts relate to children conceived pre 2009 so we don't know what will happen where both lesbian mums are on the birth certificate.  There are some technical differences - the donor cannot apply for parental responsibility if he is not a parent, but he could - with the court's permission - apply for contact with the child or possibly even a residence order (which would give him parental responsibility indirectly).  It's more of an uphill struggle for him to take the mums to court, but my view is that the court would be likely to let him apply if he has a history of some involvement and in the absence of a clear written agreement.  Watch this space - I'll keep you posted with any developments.


Wrighty2 - I'll pop this on the DC pages too.


Natalie


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