Santa Cruz court set to hear custody battle between lesbian moms
A Santa Cruz court is slated to hear a custody dispute between two women who are former partners – in which the biological mother has become romantically involved with the sperm donor father of her 10-month-old twins.
Kim T. Smith of Santa Cruz has sued for joint custody of the twins, saying she and former partner Maggie Quale agreed to raise the boys together.
Qaule and the boy’s biological father, 28-year-old Shawn Wallace, now live together and argue they should be able to fully parent the children.
Quale and Smith never registered as domestic partners with the state. But the two women are listed as the boys’ parents on their birth certificates, and the twins carry the hyphenated last name Quale-Smith.
A hearing in the case is scheduled for Jan. 29.
