article here.
The Michigan Court of Appeals has agreed with a Dickinson County judge who dismissed a lawsuit by Jennifer Stankevich who was seeking custody and other rights from her former partner, Leanne Milliron.
Stankevich and Milliron had entered into a same-sex marriage in Canada in 2007 but separated two years later.
While Stankevich apparently had a role in the child’s early life, the court ruled Milliron is the biological mother, and since Michigan doesn’t recognize same-sex marriage, she thereby has the upper hand in any legal action.
Side Note: I think that this may be an inequitable result, but probably will be upheld if it goes to a higher court. If there's a heterosexual couple, where children are residing with a biological parent, and one person is not the biological parent, and doesn't make an effort to adopt children who he/she is parenting, then they have no standing for custody when the adult relationship ends. This is similar to how the court here viewed the standing of the non-biological mom in this same-gender couple.
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