Same-sex custody fight may alter Fla. law

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- A custody battle between two Florida lesbians could fuel the growing national debate over the definition of motherhood.

It also might force state lawmakers to reconsider a 19-year-old law regarding the rights of sperm and egg donors.

The women, now in their 30s and identified in court papers only by initials, were both law enforcement officers. One partner donated an egg that was fertilized and implanted in the other, who gave birth in 2004, nine years into their relationship.

But the Brevard County couple separated two years later, and the birth mother eventually left Florida with the child. The woman who donated the egg and calls herself the biological mother tracked them down in Australia with the help of a private detective.

Their fight over the now 8-year-old girl is before the state Supreme Court, though it has not announced whether it will consider the case. A trial judge ruled that the biological mother has no parental rights under state law, but he added he hoped his decision would be overturned. The Fifth District Court of Appeal in Daytona Beach obliged, saying both women have parental rights.

At issue is a 1993 state law meant to regulate sperm and egg donation. Scholars debate whether the constitutional right to procreate includes outside-the-body technologies to conceive. Also at issue are constitutional questions about gay people's right to raise children and claim equal protection under law. Another appellate court ruled Florida's ban on gays being able to adopt unconstitutional in 2010.

The biological mother, however, isn't concerned about being a legal or social pioneer, her lawyer said. She just wants her child back in her life.

"She hasn't seen her daughter in years, and it's been terribly, terribly difficult for her," said Robert A. Segal, a family law attorney in Melbourne.

The birth mother's lawyer, Robert Wheelock of Orlando, did not respond to an email.