Parental Rights

Modern families raise novel issues of law, as shown in this recent case from the Georgia Court of Appeals.

Two women, Tiffany and Jennifer, were lawfully married in 2018.  To have a child, they authorized and consented to artificial insemination for Jennifer.  The baby was born in 2021, and both women were listed as parents on the child’s birth certificate. 

Unfortunately, the marriage did not last, and Tiffany filed for divorce in 2024.  In court, Jennifer claimed full custody of the child, saying that Tiffany was not the biological mother and had never adopted the child as a step-parent.  Tiffany countered that under Georgia law any child born in wedlock is presumed the legitimate offspring of both spouses, so she didn’t need to go through an adoption procedure to become the child’s legal parent.

The trial court rejected Tiffany’s argument on the theory that the relevant law was enacted in 1964, and the legislature could not have contemplated that it would apply to a same-sex married couple.  The Court of Appeals reversed, saying that the intention of the legislature is not relevant when the words used in the statute are clear and unambiguous.  The statute is gender neutral, referring to “spouses” (not “husband and wife”) and as such plainly encompasses same sex marriages regardless of the legislature’s expectations.

What’s more, when the United States Supreme Court held that same sex couples had the constitutional right to marry, all of the benefits that attach to marriage flowed in as well.  The aspects of marital status include: taxation, inheritance and property rights, rules of intestate succession, spousal privilege in the law of evidence, hospital access, the rights and benefits of survivors, and child custody, among others.

The case was sent back to the trial court with Tiffany’s arguments vindicated.

 

(May 2026)

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