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Thursday, January 28, 2010

Ind. Courts - Oral argument in COA involving the Paternity of Infant R

Today the Court of Appeals heard oral argument in The Paternity of Infant R. (64A03-0908-JV-367). The case summary:

T.G. and V.G. are a married couple and the biological parents of a child born to a surrogate mother. T.G., V.G., and the surrogate filed affidavits in support of a petition to establish paternity and maternity in T.G. and V.G. The trial court denied the petition upon finding that "Indiana law does not permit a non birth mother to establish maternity. Indiana law holds the birth mother is the legal maternal mother." T.G. and V.G. appeal, arguing Indiana law denies women equal protection and asking that Indiana's paternity statutes be declared unconstitutional as applied to them.
The Panel Members were: Chief Judge Baker, Judges Bailey and Bradford.I have just finished watching the webcast, and recommend it highly for its thoughtful discussion of the issues by the judges and the attorneys. (Access it here.)

Unfortunately, the first few minutes of the argument are lost, then the video blacked out, but keep watching and a few minutes in you will see Steven Litz presenting the case of the couple seeking to establish maternity, followed by Deputy Attorney General Frances Barrow, representing the State.

Mr. Litz suggested two alternatives to the court: (1) declare the paternity statute unconstitutional under the equal protection clause, because it makes no provision for a declaration of maternity, or (2) read the paternity statute to also apply to women.

Ms. Barrow's position was: We don’t disagree with the plaintiffs’ desired outcome of having the genetic mother declared the legal mother. Our view is that the Court could achieve that goal without declaring the statute unconstitutional.

Here are two brief stories on the argument; from WTHR, and from Charles Wilson of the AP.

I'm very pleased to report that I have just received copies of the briefs in the case:

Posted by Marcia Oddi on January 28, 2010 01:22 PM
Posted to Indiana Courts