BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – Two Brevard County moms are headed for the State Supreme Court in the first custody battle of its kind in Florida.
Two women in a relationship for 11 years split up—but they had a child together in 2004 after they had been dating for eight years. They had planned to raise their little girl together, which they used one partner's egg in the other's womb.
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The woman whose DNA was used sued for custody but based on state law, a Brevard County circuit judge found the woman who delivered the child is the birth mom, and therefore, has parental rights, while the biological mother does not.
Attorney Robert Segal represents the biological mother, Tina, the woman whose egg was used to conceive the child.
"They decided to harvest an egg from my client, have it fertilized in vitro-inplanted into the birth mother, who then gave birth to the child," Segal said.
Tina said she was devastated and appealed.
"They were very deliberate in bringing this child into the world and she was a very committed parent and she still is, but she is being denied access," Segal said.
The Court of Appeals agreed with Tina, saying state law has not kept up with the times. It directed the lower court to work out an agreement, but it also asked the Florida Supreme Court to weigh in on the constitutionality of the law, which could take several more months.
"We are asking for time sharing as much time as she can get with this child," Segal said.
Tina said she has kept cards and artwork from her daughter. She said she and her partner tried for years to have the child and when it finally happened it was "a miracle."
She said they lived as a family until the women broke up in 2006. Afterward, Segal said they continued to share custody and his client even paid child support.
"December 2007 rolled around and birth mom decided she wasn't interest in having my client be a part of the child's life anymore and she disappeared," Segal said.
It took several months before the birth mother and child were tracked down in Australia.
Local 6 reached out to the other woman's attorney, but they were not available to comment.