A court ruling this week that rejected an Oklahoma woman’s petition of custody over the son she raised for two years with her estranged wife
A court ruling this week that rejected an Oklahoma woman’s petition of custody over the son she raised for two years with her estranged wife should serve as a cautionary tale for same-sex parents, some legal experts say. Kris Williams and Rebekah Wilson were legally married in June 2019, before Wilson gave birth to a boy that August, according to court documents. Shortly after the couple separated in November 2021, Wilson moved in with the child’s sperm donor, taking the boy with her and prompting Williams to petition for custody. If Williams were a man, there would have been a “presumption of paternity” under Oklahoma state law, which says: “A man is presumed to be the father of a child if … He and the mother of the child are married to each other and the child is born during the marriage.” But a judge on Monday ruled against Williams, stating in her decision that the law does not apply to parents in same-sex relationships, because the state parentage law predates the legalization of same-sex marriage in the state ... Wilson was initially listed on the child’s birth certificate when he was born in 2019, according to court documents. However, Oklahoma County District Judge Lynne McGuire argued that Williams could not claim parentage rights over the child because Oklahoma’s parentage act predates the legalization of same-sex marriage in the state. “[The act] does not take into account same-sex marriage, and there is no presumption that the wife of the mother is automatically presumed the parent of a child born during the marriage,” McGuire ruled.
This is terrifying.
