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Nancy SooHoo had faced losing all contact with the 11- and 6-year-old girls, whom she said still call her “mommy,” and her attorney said the court’s decision is good news for gay parents who have struggled for legal parental rights.
SooHoo and Marilyn Johnson had been a couple for almost two decades when they adopted the infant girls from China in 1997 and 2001, but Johnson became the sole legal guardian because the Chinese government wouldn’t allow gay couples to adopt.
When the couple split in 2004, Johnson was left as the only legal parent of both girls. SooHoo sought joint custody, pointing out that the children referred to both women as “mommy” and that SooHoo was listed as a contact on medical documents.
“We were a family,” SooHoo said Thursday. “Everybody said we were a family. Everybody who knew us knew we were a family.”
The court ruling, written by Justice Alan Page, noted that Johnson had listed SooHoo as “mother number two” and listed the last name of one of the children as Johnson-SooHoo.
Johnson argued in court filings that SooHoo was a “good friend” and “aunt-like presence” in the girls’ lives, and that granting visitation rights to SooHoo would interfere with her parental relationship with the girls.
A district court judge rejected SooHoo’s bid for joint custody, but granted her visitation rights. That and subsequent court decisions found that she had a parent-child relationship with the girls.
The Supreme Court determined that courts have broad latitude in deciding visitation rights in the best interest of children, and that status as a legal parent is not necessarily the only determining factor in who gets visitation rights.
“It is enough to say ... that the visitation awarded does not interfere with Johnson’s parental relationship,” Page wrote.
In a prepared statement, Johnson’s attorney, M. Sue Wilson, said the Supreme Court made “a good clarifying decision,” but that she disagrees with how they applied it. “Marilyn has some options now and we are considering all of them,” Wilson said.
SooHoo’s attorney, Michael Perlman, said the only further legal recourse available would be an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Perlman said the court’s decision, while promising for gay couples, was narrowly focused and is not likely to “open the floodgates for anyone who’s ever been denied visitation to go back to court to try again” — such as non-custodial divorced parents or grandparents, he said.
Laura Smidzik, executive director of Rainbow Families, an advocacy group for gay families, said the ruling is important. “The reality is, many gay families don’t enjoy full legal protection and it’s not hard to see many people ending up in this same situation,” she said.
Because of the ruling, SooHoo will be able to maintain her visitation schedule of the last several years — every other weekend, two hours every week and alternating holidays. But Johnson retains legal custody and reserves the right to make the decisions that govern the girls’ lives.
“I’ve always wanted my children to have two parents, and the Supreme Court has assured that,” SooHoo said. “My only hope now is a good relationship with my children.”
