A New Jersey gay couple has won full custody of their 5-year-old twin daughters after a court battle with the children’s surrogate mother.
But the case wasn’t entirely cut and dry – the surrogate mother, Angelia Robinson, was also sister to Donald Hollingsworth, husband to Sean Hollingsworth, a gay couple married in California who now live in Jersey City. The fertilized egg also did not belong to Robinson – it was donated and later fertilized by Sean Hollingsworth.
The case found its way in court after years of family battles over who could best care for the twins, the New Jersey Star Ledger reports.
A Hudson County Superior Court judge awarded full custody to the biological father, Sean Hollingsworth with visitation rights awarded to Robinson. The decision was made due in part to the family’s inability to come to a resolution together.
“The parents’ ability to agree, communicate and cooperate in matters relating to the children is nonexistent here,” the judge wrote. “They hardly speak verbally to each other and there is little communication in writing. They disagree on what school the children should attend, what religion the children should be brought up in, and what they should be told about surrogacy, what they should be told about the gay lifestyle and there is uncertainty as to how the children will be instructed as to their biracial heritage.”
The judge added: “There can be no joint legal custody in this case.”
Attorney for the Hollingsworth couple said the decision was a “landmark ruling for tolerance and diversity,” the Star-Ledger reported.
Legal counsel for Robinson stated the case had nothing to do with sexual orientation, explaining, “This entire case was litigated on the basis that the sexual orientation of the proposed adoptive parties is absolutely irrelevant… No one raised it. The issue of whether a same sex-couple can be good custodial parents is not an issue in this state. It has not been an issue for 35 years.”
