A Utah woman separated from her child hopes the hyphenated name on his birth certificate will prompt him to look for her some day.
Gena Edvalson became a parent in 2006 when her lesbian partner of six years conceived via in vitro. The couple raised the child together until their breakup in 2007 and had both signed a co-parenting agreement. Unfortunately, biological mom Jana Dickson is now married to a man and wants the child to have nothing to do with other mom Edvalson. Dickson is legally represented by the conservative Alliance Defense Fund.
Utah Third Judicial District Court ruled this month that Edvalson has no rights to the child and must lose even the weekly visitation the judge had previously granted. The court also stated that the co-parenting contract “directly offends the state’s public policy that parents retain the fundamental right to exercise the primary control over the care and supervision of their children.”
After the ruling, Edvalson wrote on her personal site:
Last week the judge ruled in her favor. . . . I lost my son. He lost another adult (nay, a mom) who loves him. They lost their souls.
The Salt Lake Tribune covered this story and explained how even contracts don’t protect gays in Utah. In that article, Edvalson mentions that she hopes the hyphenated name on her son’s birth certificate will someday lead to a reunion.
For now, Edvalson… is keeping an online journal to record her experience in case her one-time son someday notices the hyphenated last name on his birth certificate and has questions.
Such a sad situation. My heart goes out to Ms. Edvalson and the little boy who is surely missing her terribly.
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