Does the Government Approve of Your Parenting Style?

Adoption has been around a long time, but with the modern era, test tube babies, IVF and now same sex couples, the lines of what constitutes a parent are getting twisted even further.

Take, for instance, this case:

When sperm-donor dad wants into the child’s life and the biological mother sides with him. And her lesbian partner, who had been able to adopt the child — because the father had signed away his legal rights — doesn’t want him in. The 2 women became estranged over this dispute, and the biological parents tried to run off to California with the child. Who ends up with the child? The adoptive mother.

[Althouse: When sperm-donor dad wants into the child’s life and the biological mother sides with him.]

Why, may you ask, did the judge side with the adoptive mother?  Because the one mother’s style of parenting is more scheduled than the other.  Makes me wonder if the judge ever watched Wife Swap, and saw that there are multiple different family styles.

I can certainly understand, from a legal perspective, why the biological father does not get the child—I mean, he did sign away his rights.  What I don’t understand is why the judge gets to choose who gets the kids based on parenting style.

I think this should concern all parents.  If the government can choose one person over another in a dispute like this simply because of parenting styles, could that same government remove a child from a home for the same reasons?

Image from Stock Exchange used under the Standard Restrictions explained at the link.