The issue of child custody and same-sex parents came up recently before the state Supreme Court in nearby Ohio where, unlike Illinois, civil unions between people of the same gender are banned. The high court ruled that only one partner could retain exclusive custody of the child, who until recently had been raised together by the lesbian couple.

The 4-3 split decision favored the child's biological mother and ruled that the second mother was not entitled to parenting time. The ruling stated that, although she participated emotionally and financially in the young child's life, the non-biological mother had no constitutional parental rights.

Court documents say the former couple had lived together and agreed to raise a child. The younger partner of the two was chosen by mutual consent to undergo in-vitro fertilization, financed by both women through the second mortgage of their shared home.

To ensure as many co-parenting rights as possible, the biological mother created several documents including consent to establish her partner as the child's guardian. According to the national LGBT advocacy group Lambda Legal, when the partners' relationship fell apart, the documents along with the guardianship were revoked and the legal bond broken.

Until the case was settled, the non-biological partner had been given visitation rights. With the ruling, her parental privileges were stripped.

The Supreme Court's decision supports two lower courts' decisions to deny the partner parenting rights without legal permission of the biological parent. Even though her rights as a parent are terminated, the woman is still allowed to contest the decision concerning the termination of her visitation privileges.

Source: Cincinnati.com, "Court rules against lesbian co-parent in custody fight," Kimball Perry, 13 July 2011