Word: kazmierazak
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...other cases, homosexuals want the government's help. In visitation cases, they often argue that they have had a parental relationship and should remain part of the child's life. Penny Kazmierazak went to court last year seeking custody of Zoey, a five-year-old girl born to her partner before the couple's breakup. Kazmierazak and Pam Query had been together five years when Query underwent artificial insemination. Despite Kazmierazak's role in Zoey's birth (she paid for the insemination) and years of parenting, a Florida court turned her down because she wasn't a birth parent...
...case, and a similar one pending in Illinois, could set new precedents for the rights of nonbiological or "psychological" parents. Steve Scarborough, a lawyer for the Lambda Legal Defense Fund, which promotes homosexual rights and is representing Kazmierazak, says courts in New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin have "recognized the harm that comes to children when relationships with nonbiological parents are severed...
Query became Zoey's biological mom because Kazmierazak was physically unable to do so. They found a suitable sperm donor who Kazmierazak says shared many of her characteristics, such as her artistic predilection. Query and Kazmierazak attended birthing classes and doctor's visits together, and Kazmierazak attended the birth. The two women brought Zoey home to Kazmierazak's house. The moms, seeking to establish a legal relationship between Kazmierazak and Zoey, were able only to execute a grant of custody to Kazmierazak, which gave her permission to take the child to doctor's visits and enroll her in day care...
Query declined to be interviewed, but her attorney, Margaret Anderson of Vero Beach, Fla., sees the case as one of attempted "child snatching" by Kazmierazak, whom she refers to as Query's "roommate." Anderson adds, "I see the case as being a slippery slope. Does someone who loves my child and helps with the care have custody rights? How can you have a baby-sitter or nanny in your home when you're out working 40 to 60 hours a week? Women are not going to allow people to love their child if they have to be wary...
Scarborough retorts that Kazmierazak was not a paid nanny. "She's someone who is devoted to the child," he said. "She is someone who is known to her as Mom." At least she was the last time she saw Zoey--about 18 months...