A lesbian in
California can continue to pursue a second-parent adoption
of her former partner's child after the U.S. Supreme Court
on Monday declined to hear a challenge brought by the
child's birth mother. The decision was the second time
the high court shied away from getting involved in
the child custody fight between the two San Diego
women, the Associated Press reports.
The birth mother,
known as Sharon S., is trying to prevent her former
partner, Annette F., from adopting one of the two children
they were raising together. Sharon and Annette
separated after an alleged incident of domestic
violence.
The California
supreme court rejected an attempt by Sharon to prevent the
adoption, which she consented to by signing an adoption
petition in August 1999. The following July, with the
lengthy adoption process still pending, Annette
allegedly struck Sharon in the face, injuring her, it
was asserted in the case. This prompted Sharon to request
dismissal of the adoption petition.
The U.S. Supreme
Court had declined the case in March 2004 without
comment. Sharon argued that her constitutional rights would
be violated if an unrelated person were allowed to
adopt her child over her objections.
In a response to
Sharon's latest petition for U.S. Supreme Court review,
lawyers for Annette said that Sharon's main argument is
identical to the one made in her last petition. ''In
California, adoptions are founded on the consent of
birth parents.... Sharon consented,'' Annette's lawyers
stated. (The Advocate)
