July 18, 2011
“Fathers and Families has no position on same-sex marriage. But we do have a position on same-sex ‘divorce.’
Once a child has bonded with two adults as her parents, she is deeply and often permanently hurt by the sudden, court-ordered absence of one of her parents, regardless of the parents” sexual orientation…”
Fathers and Families Board Chairman Ned Holstein, MD, MS criticizes the new Ohio Supreme Court’s lesbian partner/child custody decision in his new column Kids with two parents need both, even in breakup (Columbus Dispatch, 7/18/11).
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In the piece, Holstein writes:
The Ohio Supreme Court has ruled against Michele Hobbs, a lesbian “social mom,’ in her desire to co-parent the child she helped raise from birth. She and biological mom Kelly Mullen agreed to raise a child together, sought out a sperm donor and shared the parenting from the birth of their now-five-year-old daughter, Lucy. The court”s ruling means that Lucy might never see the woman she calls “momma.’ It is a mistake.
Most of the public sees this as a gay-rights case. The court sees it as a technical issue of defining who is a parent under the law. In reality, it is a best-interest-of-the-child case similar to everyday heterosexual child-custody disputes…
Every day, some divorcing heterosexual parents try to use the courts to drive the other parent, usually the dad, out of the child”s life, ignoring the profound heartache they are causing their child. Too often, as in this case, they succeed. They troubleth their own house, and they inherit the wind: the research clearly shows that their children suffer…
In one heart-wrenching recording, confused little Lucy struggles to explain to Hobbs that her ex-partner Mullen no longer wants her to call Hobbs “momma.’ Lucy is heard to say, “Mommy says don”t call momma ‘momma”… mommy says ‘momma”s not momma, momma”s Michele” but I say ‘no mommy, she”s momma.”‘ How can this be ignored?
Read the full piece here.