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Abstract:
Recent years have seen a proliferation of alternative reproductive technologies and the ready availability of reliable DNA testing. These developments have lead to enormous uncertainty concerning the meaning of a genetic tie between adult and child. On the one hand, reproductive technology has lead to a robust market where genetic material is readily bought and sold. This suggests it is not the root of parental status. On the other hand, DNA testing has allowed men to contest paternity of children, asserting that they are not genetically related to them. And their challenges have often been successful. Genetic linkage is particularly problematic for lesbians and gay men forming families. Their children are necessarily not related to one of the parents. At the same time genetic relationship has formed a strong basis on which lesbians in particular have asserted their maternity. This article calls for sustained critical analysis of the meaning of the genetic bond, particularly in lesbian families.

Lesbian legal theory, lesbian and gay families, paternity, maternity, family law, parent and child, assisted resproductive technology, DNA testing

Abstract:
When parents dispute child custody, courts determine their rights by using a "best interests of the child" analysis. In this context, courts consider a host of factors, including parental sexuality. When considering the suitability of custody for a lesbian or gay parents, most courts employ a nexus test - one that requires a showing of a nexus between parental sexuality and the well-being of the child. A smaller number continue to use a harsher test that disqualifies lesbian and gay parents under a per se rule. This article argues that closer examination reveals that even the apparently more liberal nexus test is rife with opportunities for injection of irrational judicial bias. It therefore proposes a series of measures designed to ensure that lesbian and gay parents and their children are treated fairly by the courts.

Chid custody, lesbian parent, nexus test, lesbian legal theory, family law, lesbian and gay family law

Abstract:
In this extremely brief essay, the author questions Lawrence Summers' generalizations about women in science. We live in a world of uncertainty about the boundaries of gender. Transgendered and intersexed individuals challenge us to step away from strict categories of men and women.

Transgender, intersex, gender and science, gender, Lawrence Summers

Abstract:
The author of this article participated in the litigation of Andersen v. King County, Washington in which lesbian and gay couples unsuccessfully sought access to marriage. Although part of the plaintiffs' litigation team, she is a feminist anti-assimilationist and as such, is generally opposed to articulating marriage as a priority of the lesbian/gay civil rights movement. Confronted with the undeniable reality that marriage has become the central demand of the lesbian and gay movement, the author explores the tensions and contradictions encountered during the litigation. The article examines how one might critically manifest resistance even while working for an assimilationist goal.

lesbian, gay, same-sex marriage, assimilation, resistance

Abstract:
Alternative families - those that do not fit the classic nuclear family model - have been the focus of legal reform over the last twenty years. The American Law Institute has produced model legislation recognizing de facto parents as holders of some limited rights. To some this is a more flexible regime that would benefit non-nuclear families, in particular lesbian families. This article critiques the ALI draft, demonstrating that its promise is largely illusory.

lesbian family law, family law, child custody, parenthood, parentage

Abstract:
When lesbian couples start families, one woman often begins with all the legal entitlements of parenthood, either by giving birth or by virtue of adopting a child, while the other woman has no legal rights. She is a non-legal parent. Absent legal rights she suffers many critical disadvantages. Second-parent adoptions have been developed to allow lesbians to create families with two-legal parents. They have been widely hailed as a solution to the problem of the non-legal parent. This article argues, however, that for many women they may actually make matters worse. Because some women can use second-parent adoptions, women who do not use them will be at a greater disadvantage. And the community of women who do not use second-parent adoptions may be marked by class, race and other circumstances of disadvantage. As such, second-parent adoptions must be viewed critically rather than as an uncomplicated good.

Lesbians, adoption, second parent adoption, lesbian legal theory, family law