VT. RULES IN SAME-SEX CUSTODY:

A Vermont Family Court judge has ruled that both members of a same-sex civil union are the legal parents of a child. Judge William Cohen’s decision is the latest twist in a nationally watched custody dispute that has produced conflicting rulings in two states. Cohen ruled that Janet Miller-Jenkins of Fair Haven is a parent to 2-year-old Isabella, a child born by artificial insemination to Lisa Miller-Jenkins. The women lived in Virginia when they entered a civil union in Vermont four years ago. They eventually moved to Vermont after having a child and then split up. Attorneys for Lisa Miller-Jenkins, who now lives in Virginia, had contested whether Janet Miller-Jenkins, was the child’s parent. A Virginia judge had granted Lisa Miller-Jenkins, 35, full custody of the child, ruling that Janet Miller-Jenkins, 39, was no more than a friend to the child. Cohen last week reached a different conclusion under Vermont law. “Parties to a civil union who use artificial insemination to conceive a child can be treated no differently than a husband and wife, who, unable to conceive a child biologically, choose to conceive a child by inseminating the wife with the sperm of an anonymous donor,” Cohen wrote. “Under Lisa’s interpretation of the law, because there is no established precedent in Vermont, the husband would be no more than a mere stepparent and would be required to adopt the child in order to be considered a parent in the eyes of the law. This argument is without merit.” The judge ruled the case can now be set for a final hearing in Family Court to determine issues such as custody and child support. The case has attracted national media attention, highlighting the fate of children in relationships sanctioned in one state but not in others. Michael Mello, a professor at Vermont Law School, said the ruling is believed to be the first time in a civil union custody dispute that a Vermont judge has granted a person rights as a parent even though she is not the biological parent.