Appeals court upholds gay adoption
By AP from the NYTimes on the Web, November 28, 2004
GALVESTON, Nov.27 -- A state appeals court has upheld a woman's adoption of her former lesbian partner's biological daughter, a newspaper reported today.
Attorneys for the child's biological mother, Julie Hobbs, told The Galveston County Daily News that the ruling cited problems with the form of the appeal, not its merits, and that they would consider appealing the decision to the Texas Supreme Court.
Hobbs appealed the case last month, claiming the judge who heard it lacked jurisdiction to validate the adoption.
Family Court Judge Jan Yarbrough's ruling upheld the parental rights of Kathleen Van Stavern, who is seeking joint custody of the child.
An associate judge ruled in September that the state family code requires adoptions to be challenged within six months.
Yarbrough, who reviewed the case on appeal, upheld the earlier judge's ruling.
Hobbs and Van Stavern were living together as a couple when Hobbs was artificially inseminated and gave birth in 1998.
Three years later, Van Stavern successfully adopted the child.
The couple's eight-year relationship ended in March and Van Stavern began paying child support and asked for joint custody.
Hobbs, however, claimed the adoption was void because the family code requires an adoptive parent to be a spouse of the biological parent.
Texas does not recognize same-sex unions.
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