Court: Lesbian can adopt partner’s daughter (Photo illustration)
Photo: CD Bank
Court OKs lesbian adoption
Family court rules that woman can adopt daughter of her lesbian partner
The Be'er Sheva Family Court ruled Tuesday that a lesbian woman can adopt her female partner’s daughter.
The biological mother gave birth to the child through a sperm donor and has since taken legal action in an effort to force the State to recognize both her and her partner as the child's parents.
Judge Pinhas Asulin based his decision on supportive testimonies describing the two women as a family in every way. He ruled that responsibility for the child should be placed equally on both parents, similarly to the way most families function.
‘They’re a family without a doubt’
The two women, both in their 30s, are raising a second child together, whose testimony was also heard by the court.
The court legally recognized the women as a couple three years, thus setting a precedent for the first same-sex couple in Israel.
The High Court of Justice set an additional precedent in January, ruling that a lesbian couple could adopt each other’s children.
The couple’s attorney Ziv Zimran told Ynet there is no doubt the two women and their children constitute a family.
"The court's ruling has turned them into parents in every regard with equal responsibilities for the child's economic, familial and physical concern," he said.
