Fort Wayne couple reacts to ruling for lesbian moms
FORT WAYNE, Ind.- Until Thursday, lesbian couples who are married could only list the birth mother’s name on their child’s birth certificate. The other mother had to adopt the child.
Nikki and Kara Fultz went through the process with their 4-year-old son Tegan. They are relieved that from now on, no one else in the Hoosier state will have to.
A federal judge ruled that Indiana must list both spouses as parents on their children’s birth certificate. U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt said only allowing the birth mother’s name to be listed is a “discriminatory” practice.
Four years ago, Nikki and her wife welcomed their baby boy into the world. Fultz said they conceived baby Tegan together but Kara carried him.
She said March 21, 2012 will always be one of the happiest days of their lives, but they were also met with some challenges.
“He was only born at 3 pounds so he was in the NICU,” she said. “It was touch and go for a very small time.”
To make matters worse, the hospital did not recognize Nikki as Tegan’s mom and tried to limit access to her son.
The hospital staff insisted on giving Fultz a visitor’s sticker, she said. Fultz and her wife had to fight for her to be in the room with Tegan.
“This was a great moment in our lives,” she said “The best moment in our lives…. but the entire time I was treated differently than any other parent that was in there.”
Because they are lesbians Nikki could not sign the birth certificate without waiting 90 days to legally adopt him. She said it’s a process that takes months of legal preparations, paperwork, and thousands of dollars.
“You’re ready to just be a parent,” she said. “But then you have to wait 90 days after your child is born before you’re legally recognized as the parent.”
As Fultz sees it, this was a matter of discrimination based on sex.
“If you have a male/female couple and he is infertile and needs to artificially conceive… he’s automatically the father,” she said.
Thursday a federal judge agreed with Fultz, which changed the process for lesbian couples.
“It would have been great right away to be recognized as his mom… because that’s what I am,” said Fultz. “I’m excited for parents of the future to not have to go through that.”
Fultz said it’s a big win for the gay community, but there’s still a long way to go.
“We haven’t achieved full equality yet,” she said. “But each of these little victories is apart of the big battle that we’re trying to fight for equality.”