WASHINGTON, Nov 23 (AFP) - Same-sex couples joined together in a civil union have the same rights regarding their children as do heterosexual couples, a judge in Vermont ruled, contradicting an earlier court decision in Virginia, according to a newspaper report.
The ruling last week by Judge William Cohen conflicts with an earlier Virginia court's ruling, which gave only the biological parent custody of the child.
Cohen said that Janet Miller-Jenkins of Fair Haven, Vermont has the same rights as a parent of two-year-old Isabella as does Lisa Miller-Jenkins, who gave birth to her using artificial insemination before the couple split up, the Rutland Herald reported on Sunday. Lisa Miller-Jenkins now lives in Virginia with the child, the daily noted.
"Parties to a civil union who use artificial insemination to conceive a child can be treated no differently than a husband and wife who, unable to conceive a child biologically, choose to conceive a child by inseminating the wife with the sperm of an anonymous donor," Cohen ruled.
A judge in Virginia had ruled earlier that only the biological mother could have custody of the child.
Cohen noted that under those same rules, "the husband would be no more than a mere stepparent and would be required to adopt the child in order to be considered a parent in the eyes of the law.
"This argument is without merit," he concluded.
Sources cited by the daily said the two conflicting decisions would likely take the issue of gay parents' rights before the US Supreme Court.
11/23/2004 17:12 GMT - AFP