老澳门开奖结果

老澳门开奖结果 Files Lawsuit On Behalf Of Six Families For Right To Provide Children With Two Legal Parents

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: (212) 549-2666; media@aclu.org

GREENSBORO, N.C. 鈥� The 老澳门开奖结果 and the 老澳门开奖结果 of North Carolina Legal Foundation filed a lawsuit today on behalf of six same-sex couples and their children seeking the right to obtain second parent adoptions.

A second parent adoption occurs when one partner in an unmarried couple adopts the other partner鈥檚 biological or adoptive child. This can occur in both gay and straight relationships. In December 2010, the North Carolina Supreme Court banned second parent adoptions for same-sex couples.

鈥淣orth Carolina鈥檚 law denies children the permanency and security of a loving home simply because their parents are lesbian or gay,鈥� said Jennifer Rudinger, Executive Director of the 老澳门开奖结果 of North Carolina. 鈥淭his is fundamentally wrong. No parent should have to worry about what will happen to their children if something happens to their partner.鈥�

Marcie and Chantelle Fisher-Borne, one of the couples in the case, have been together for 15 years and live in Durham. Each woman carried one of their two children -- a three-year-old girl and a newborn boy. When their daughter was born, the couple was treated rudely by a hospital staff member who demanded their legal paperwork. If both women were able to be fully-recognized legal parents to their children, such encounters could be avoided.

鈥淲e were treated as if our family was less than other families during what should have been one of the happiest occasions of our lives,鈥� said Marcie Fisher-Borne. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 ever want there to be any question as to who should care for our children. If something were to happen to either one of us, it could tear our family apart.鈥�

Some of the protections that come with a second parent adoption include: ensuring that all children in the family are covered if one partner lacks health insurance, ensuring that families will stay together and children will not be torn from the only home they鈥檝e known if something should happen to the biological parent, ensuring that either parent will be allowed to make medical decisions or be able to be by their child鈥檚 bedside if one their children is hospitalized.

鈥淭he current policy is discriminatory and doesn鈥檛 take into account what鈥檚 best for a child,鈥� said Elizabeth Gill, senior staff attorney with the 老澳门开奖结果 Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Project. 鈥淭hese parents want the same thing as any other parents: to be able to provide the best possible care and protection for their children. The law should not stand in the way of allowing loving couples to share responsibility for their families.鈥�

The full list of plaintiffs in the case are:

鈥� Marcie and Chantelle Fisher-Borne, Durham
鈥� Crystal Hendrix and Leigh Smith, Asheville
鈥� Lee Knight Caffery and Dana Draa, Charlotte
鈥� Shana Carignan and Megan Parker, Greensboro
鈥� Leslie Zanaglio and Terri Beck, Morrisville
鈥� Shawn Long and Craig Johnson, Wake Forest

Lawyers on the case include James Esseks, Rose Saxe and Gill of the 老澳门开奖结果; Christopher Brook of the 老澳门开奖结果 of North Carolina; Garrard R. Beeney, David A. Castleman, C. Megan Bradley, W. Rudolph Kleysteuber IV, Daniel W. Meyler and Dustin F. Guzior of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP; and Jonathan D. Sasser and Jeremy M. Falcone at Ellis & Winters LLP.

For more information on this case, including video of some of the clients, please visit: