Applying Intent-Based Parentage Principles to Nonlegal Lesbian Coparents

With increasing frequency, courts are being asked to determine the parental rights of lesbian partners; some of these partners have no biological connection to their child(ren) while others have donated genetic material. Current parentage laws are often inadequate to resolve these disputes and even when they are available, courts are often reluctant to apply them and depart from the traditional family law paradigm of one mother/one father. In this article, the author argues that courts should embrace the doctrine of intentional parenthood to legalize the rights of nonlegal lesbian partners, with two caveats: first, courts should not apply intent-based principles to the exclusion of other doctrines and second, courts should apply intent equally to homosexual and heterosexual couples.