Lesbian couples win birth certificate suit

A judge has ordered Indiana to list both women in lesbian relationships as parents on the birth certificates of their children conceived through artificial insemination. In the state, the husband of an artificially inseminated mother could be listed on the child’s birth certificate even though he was not the biological father, but the same rule did not apply to female spouses, who had to legally adopt the children after birth. Eight couples sued the state, and U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt ruled the practice was unconstitutional. Pratt wrote there was “no conceivable important governmental interest” to treat lesbian couples who underwent artificial insemination different from heterosexual couples. Iowa, Kansas, and Utah already have laws allowing lesbian spouses to be listed on birth certificates.