Under the supervision of Professor Susan Hazeldean, founder and director of the LGBT Advocacy Clinic, John Reilly ’19 and Katherine Zarchikoff ’19 represented a lesbian client seeking to protect her parental rights to her daughter through second-parent adoption. The client and her spouse conceived their child using a known sperm donor who is also a close friend of their family.
Initially, the Family Court had reservations about granting the adoption because the donor would remain a close family friend but would no longer have parental rights. But the adoption petition ultimately was granted after the students presented evidence of the sperm donor’s consent and support for the adoption. The client and her wife are now both legally recognized parents of their child.