Quacking Like a Duck? Functional Parenthood Doctrine and

Chicago-Kent College of Law

From the SelectedWorks of Katharine K. Baker

2017

Quacking Like a Duck? Functional ParenthoodDoctrine and Same-Sex ParentsKatharine K. Baker

Available at: https://works.bepress.com/katharine_baker/34/

Chicago-Kent Law ReviewVolume 92Issue 1 Changing American State and FederalChildcare Laws

Article 7

7-26-2017

Quacking Like a Duck? Functional ParenthoodDoctrine and Same-Sex ParentsKatharine K. Baker

Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.kentlaw.iit.edu/cklawreview

Part of the Law Commons

This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarly Commons @ IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law. It has been accepted for inclusionin Chicago-Kent Law Review by an authorized editor of Scholarly Commons @ IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law. For more information, pleasecontact dginsberg@kentlaw.iit.edu.

Recommended CitationKatharine K. Baker, Quacking Like a Duck? Functional Parenthood Doctrine and Same-Sex Parents, 92 Chi.-Kent L. Rev. 135 (2017).Available at: https://scholarship.kentlaw.iit.edu/cklawreview/vol92/iss1/7

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We believe (as with ducks) that if it looks like a family, if it holds itself out as a family, and if it functions like a family, then it is a family.

See In re

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SeeLegal Recognition of LGBT Families

see Second-Parent Adoption Laws,

Id.

See infra

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two

See infra

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opts outopt-in

See infraSee infraSee Voluntary Acknowledgements of Parentage for Same Sex Couples

See infra The DNA Default and its Discontents: Establishing Modern Parenthood

See infra

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See Partners, Care Givers, and the Constitutional Substance of Parenthoodin

See Marriage and Parenthood as Status and Rights: The Growing, Problem-atic and Possibly Constitutional Trend to Disaggregate Family Status from Family Rights,

The Hidden Structure of Taking Law

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Id.

PrinceYoder

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Parham “Parental” Rights

supra

Parents as Fiduciaries

Property Rules Meet Feminist Needs: Respecting Autonomy by Valuing Connection

See Lochner’s LegacyLochner v. New York

Lochner

supra

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Prince v. Massachusetts

parens patraie

Troxel v. Granville

Troxel

supraid.

See

supra

parens patriaeId. See

parens patriaeparens patriae

See Troxel

See also

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, fillius nullius

supra Troxel

See e.g.

Legitimate Families and Equal Protection

See generally Marital Supremacy and the Constitution of the Nonmarital Family

Illegitimacy and Sex, Old and New

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supraSee supra

See also supra

supra

See

See supra

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See Single Parent Adoptions

See also

See

Id.Id.

(

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agreement

AB

C

AB C

B C Alegal

B C

A B

Id.

See id.See e.g.

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B CA

Asymmetric Parenthood, in

Id.

See e.g.

See supra

The Genetic Tie

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AB

B C

A B

A B

BC

B C

A. Function and Strong Intent: A and B Clearly Agree to Co-Parent

Holtzman v. Knot

See infraSee infraSee infra

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Holtzman

Holtzman

JAL v. EPH

ENO v. LLM

Id.Id.

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Rubano v. DiCenzo

Frazier v. Goudschaal

Id.supra

Id.Id.

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B. Function and Questionable Intent: A and B May Not Agree

HoltzmanJAL ENO

Janice M. v Margaret K

A.H. v. M.P.

ENO

In re

See infra

Madelyn B.

IdId.

Id.

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A.H.

A.H.

A.H.

Debra H. v. Janice R.,Alison D. v. Virginia M

Id.

Id.

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Debra H. Alison D.

Brooke S.B. v. Elizabeth A. C.C.

.

Janice MConover v. Conover

Conover

Id.Id.Debra H.

Id.Id. Id.

Id.

Id.

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Conover

Conover

B C

C. Holding Out and The Relationship Between B and C

V.C. v. M.J.B

Id.

Id.

See

See supra

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Elisa B v. Superior Court

Chatterjee v. King

M.J.B.

See infraM.J.B.

Id See Personal Exemp-

tions and Dependents

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Elisa BChatterjee

who how

Id.Id.

See also Elisa B. In re

See supra

See

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See

infra

sin qua non

Id.See e.g. infra

Seeex rel.

ChatterjeeSee e.g. In re

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D. Summary

See

In re

SeeSee generally supra

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B CChatterjee,

Eliza B M.J.B. Conover

B CA

.Chatterjee

Elisa B.

Lawrence v. TexasSee generally The Domesticated Liberty of ,

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B C A

A B

A. VAPs as an Opting-in System

requires

See supra

. See supra

See Reforming Paternity Law to Eliminate Gender, Status, & Class Inequality

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A BC A B

C

id.

See Homogenous Rules for Het-erogeneous Families: The Standardization of Family Law When There is No Standard Family

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ex postex ante parens patraie

See supra

Seeparens patriae

parens patraie

See Parents Face Fines, Jail Time for Failure to ImmunizeThe

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parens patraie

Truancy TrapIn This City, Parents Must Now Pay Up if Their Child is a Bully

See supraSee The Basics: Becoming a Legal Guardian in New York State

See

See

See

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parens patraie

B. The Case Against Function

parens patraie

Prince v. Mass.parens patraie

See e.g.

A Feminist Proposal to Bring Back Common Law Marriage

Id.

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Debra H.

M.J.B.

SeeSee infra

Rendering Children Illegitimate in Former Partner Parenting Cases: Hiding Behind the Façade of Certainty,

always

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A.H.

See also In re

The Limits of Functional Family: Lesbian Mother Litigation in the Era of the Eternal Biological Family

See High Conflict Divorce

See generally supra

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See Family Court Reform and ADR: Shifting Values & Expectations Transform the Divorce Process,

See Introductionsupra

. See Fixed Rules and Discretion in Contemporary Family Law. and Succession Law

See generally supra

See Rethinking the Substantive Rules for Custody Disputes in Divorce

The Politics of Custody and the Transformation of American Custody Decision Making

Solomonic Judgments: Against the Best Interest of the Child

See

V.C. v. M.J.B.

Michael H

Which Ties Bind? Redefining the Parent-Child Relationship in an Age of Genetic Certainty

Burchard

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A.H. M.J.B.not

Burchard

A BB C

B C

M.J.B.

supra

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a. Romantic Relationships

Couples and Coupling in the Public Sphere: A Comment on the Legal History of Litigating for Lesbian and Gay Rights

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b. Two Parents

Frazier v. Goudschaalfamily unit

Chatter-jee

family.Frazier

Chatterjee

c. Consent

See The Paradox of Family Privacy

In re

In re

See

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d. Protecting the Sperm Donor

See

Id.See

See generally Intent to Contract

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Thomas S. v. Robin Y.

Jason P. v Danielle S.

E.E. v. O.M.G.R.

Gendering Legal Parenthood: Bio-Genetic Ties, Intentionality and Responsibil-ity

supra

See

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e. Mothering

A.H.

See supra

supraSee supraSee e.g. In re

See Gallagher Pettinato See alsosupra

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B C is

See The Problem with Unpaid Work

See generally

See Money, Housework, Sex and Conflict: Same-Sex Couples in Civil Unions, Those Not in Civil Unions, and Heterosexual Married Siblings

Supporting Children, Balancing Lives,

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Id.

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ex ante

ex post