
CONTACTAbout UsCAREER OPPORTUNITIESADVERTISE WITH USPRIVACY POLICYPRIVACY PREFERENCESTERMS OF USELEGAL NOTICE
© 2025 Equal Entertainment LLC.
All Rights reserved
All Rights reserved
By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
North Carolina's supreme court has voided state senator Julia Boseman's adoption of her former domestic partner's biological son, saying the birth mother would have had to give up her parental rights to make it legal.
The court ruled 5-2 that Boseman's adoption of Melissa Jarrell's son was invalid because a Durham County district court judge waived a requirement five years ago that Jarrell had to give up her parental rights, according to the Associated Press.
Associate justice Paul Newby wrote for the majority that the adoption never occurred in the eyes of the law because "lawmakers have made clear that the biological parent must terminate a legal relationship with the child. That part of the ruling favored Jarrell, who had sued to negate the adoption after the couple separated."
The majority of justices have let stand a lower court's ruling allowing the couple to have joint custody of the child, arguing that it would be in the child's best interest as they have been coparenting since 2002. But the supreme court's ruling eliminates an option for same-sex couples looking to adopt and calls into question second-parent adoptions like this one.
Second-parent adoptions have been granted in two counties in North Carolina.
"If our uniform court system is to be preserved, a new form of adoption cannot be made available in some counties but not all," Newby wrote.
Read the full story here.
From our Sponsors
Most Popular
31 Period Films of Lesbians and Bi Women in Love That Will Take You Back
December 09 2024 1:00 PM
18 of the most batsh*t things N.C. Republican governor candidate Mark Robinson has said
October 30 2024 11:06 AM
True
These 15 major companies caved to the far right and stopped DEI programs
January 24 2025 1:11 PM
True
Latest Stories
LGBTQ+ and other leaders call Pope Francis progressive and transformative
April 21 2025 5:15 PM
Trump administration to defund suicide hotline for LGBTQ+ youth starting in October
April 21 2025 3:54 PM
Sasha Colby's 'Stripped II' tour spotlights the trans experience
April 21 2025 3:42 PM
20 years of Sapphic cinema: the 20 best lesbian movies
April 21 2025 1:23 PM