Lesbilicious - the web’s tastiest lesbian magazine

A lesbian parent who was not in a civil partnership with her ex-partner does not have to pay child maintenance, a High Court judge has ruled.

Mr Justice Moylan said that the woman - identified as “B” - could not be considered the child’s parent because she was not its biological parent, and the law differentiates between a “natural” parent and a legal one.

He said that B was instead a “social and psychological” parent of the child, who was born in 2000.

B and the child’s biological mother, “T”, began a relationship in 1994 and jointly decided that T would have a child using an anonymous sperm donor.

They lived together until 2007, and in January 2009, B won a court order which granted her shared residence with the child.

T’s lawyers argued that because both women continue to take on the role of parents, B must be forced to pay child maintenance.

However, B’s lawyers said that the law did not recognise B as a parent and thus the court had no power to make a maintenance order.

Mr Justice Moylan concluded: “In some respects the outcome in this case may seem objectively surprising.

“However, in my view it is for the legislature to determine who should be financially responsible for children if it is to extend beyond those who are legal parents.

“If I were to extend the definition to include anyone who has acted as a parent, I do not see how I could properly define the limits of such an extended definition in a way which would provide sufficient legal certainty.”

Posted in: Campaigns & Politics, Community |