Pennsylvania To Hear Co-Adoption Case
Doreen Brandt
365Gay.com Newscenter in Washington

(April 2, Philadelphia) Two Pennsylvania couples, one gay, the other lesbian, are taking the state's ban on co-parenting to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

Their suit challenges a 2000 lower court ruling that said because gays and lesbians cannot marry they cannot jointly adopt children.  The decision also affects heterosexual couples living common law.

The case is being handled by Pittsburgh civil rights attorney Christine Biancheria.

The one couple, Jeff and Joey G., have been together for 21 years and are raising a 10-year-old boy and a 9-year-old girl after Joey adopted them as infants. Jeff tried to adopt them in 1999 and was rejected.

The other couple is composed of two women who have been together since 1983 and are raising twin boys who were born in 1997 through in vitro fertilization to one of the women. Her partner tried to adopt them jointly in 1998 and was also turned down by the courts.

75 organizations, from child welfare agencies to gay activist groups, have signed on to the appeal as "friends of the court."

Among the groups is the American Civil Liberties Union which is involved in legal challenges nationwide of state laws banning gay adoption

The ACLU's Ferrero said while the Pennsylvania law appears not to target sexual orientation, "it's very clear to us that's what these laws do."

"It's unconstitutional to have a law for the purpose of expressing disapproval of gay people," he said.

A conservative group, the Pennsylvania Family Institute, has filed a brief opposing joint adoption.

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