Couple Takes on Fla. Adoption Law

Vanessa Alenier and Melanie Leon faced the Florida third district court of appeal Wednesday in an attempt to keep their adopted son, a relative of Alenier's.

The boy's biological mother was deemed unfit to raise him, and Alenier agreed to foster him in January 2009, when he was a newborn, according to The Miami Herald. Her subsequent request to adopt him was approved by Miami-Dad circuit judge Maria Sampedro-Iglesia, going against the 1977 law that allows gay and lesbian Floridians to foster children but not adopt them. However, the state Department of Children and Families appealed the decision.

Alenier's attorney said the couple should be allowed to adopt the boy, as they are the only parents he knows.

"Wholesome environments is not a synonym for straight," attorney Alan Mishael said.