Othermother - Lesbian Co-parenting

Lesbian Co-parenting

A parallel form of 'othermothering' is the concept of the lesbian co-mother. According to journalist Kathy Paige

When lesbians have children, they create not only a child, but two moms. One is the birth mom and the other, the non-biological mom. What these non-bio moms go through is quite unique. Some feel invisible as the "Other Mother."

In the United States, Second-parent adoption is a process by which a same-sex partner can adopt her or his partner's biological or adoptive child without terminating the first legal parent's rights. Second-parent adoption was started by the National Center for Lesbian Rights (formerly the Lesbian Rights Project) in the mid-1980s. California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Washington State and Washington, D.C. explicitly allow second-parent adoption by same-sex couples statewide, either by statute or court ruling. As of May 2007, Colorado allows second-parent adoption by same-sex couples. Courts in many other states have also granted second-parent adoptions to same-sex couples, though there is no statewide law or court decision that guarantees this. In fact, courts within the same state but in different jurisdictions often contradict each other in practice. See LGBT rights in Australia for a discussion of the legal rights of lesbian othermothers in Australia.