SOUTHLAND : Gay Non-Parent Denied Custody
A judge today ruled against a Long Beach lesbian who had sought visitation rights and joint custody of her former lover’s 2-year-old daughter.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Dana Senit denied Terri Sabol’s request for joint custody and visitation rights through parenting by estoppel--when a person acts as a parent and bonds with the child but is not the biological or adoptive parent.
The case arose after Sabol, 33, and her “life partner,” identified only as Susan, decided in March, 1985, to have a child. Sabol’s brother, Steve, donated the sperm used for Susan’s artificial insemination, which resulted in the birth of a girl on Dec. 16, 1986.
The two women separated in 1988. Sabol claims she was denied visitation rights beginning in October, 1988.
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