Elizabeth Marquardt writes in today’s New York Times, “On April 30, a state Superior Court panel ruled that a child can have three legal parents. The case, Jacob v. Shultz-Jacob, involved two lesbians who were the legal co-parents of two children conceived with sperm donated by a friend. The panel held that the sperm donor and both women were all liable for child support.”
There have been no legal and cultural reactions. So, it seems that having multiple parents will soon become legally accepted practice. “If more children are granted three legal parents,” Marquardt writes, “what is our rationale for denying these families the rights and protections of marriage? America, get ready for the group-marriage debate.”
“If we allow three legal parents,” she says, “why not five?”