Re G (Children) (Residence: Same-sex Partner)
Being the natural parent of a child is an important and significant factor in deciding what is in the child's best interests, though the child's welfare remains paramount.
Facts
Two women in a same sex relationship had two children together, using donor sperm, and the children were carried by one of them, CG. When they separated, the court ordered shared residence. CG then moved to Cornwall with the children, in breach of the order, and the court decided that the children should live with the other woman, CW, who was not their biological mother, because CG was trying to marginalise CW in the children's lives. The Court of Appeal upheld the decision.
Legal principle
The House of Lords allowed CG's appeal and ordered that the children should live with her. Lady Hale said that the welfare of the children is paramount, but that the fact that CG was the natural mother, who had both given birth to the children and was their genetic parent, was an important and significant factor in determining what would be best for them. The judge had not given sufficient weight to this factor, and had focused too much on CG's conduct. The children should live with CG, but CW should continue to play an important role in their lives.
Related cases on private law disputes about children and child abduction
- Re B (A Child) (Residence: Biological Parent) [2009] UKSC 5, [2009] 1 WLR 2496
- Re C (A Child) (Immunisation: Parental Rights) [2003] EWCA Civ 1148, [2003] 2 FLR 1095
- Re D (A Child) (Abduction: Rights of Custody) [2006] UKHL 51, [2007] 1 AC 619
- Dawson v Wearmouth [1999] 2 AC 308
- Re E (Children) (Abduction: Custody Appeal) [2011] UKSC 27, [2012] 1 AC 144
- Re F (A Child) (International Relocation Cases) [2015] EWCA Civ 882
- Re J (A Child) (Custody Rights: Jurisdiction) [2005] UKHL 40, [2006] 1 AC 80
- Re J (Specific Issue Orders: Child's Religious Upbringing and Circumcision) [2000] 1 FLR 571
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