A Dane County Circuit Court judge ruled Wednesday a Wisconsin lesbian couple’s adoption of two children was constitutional, according to an article by the Wisconsin State Journal.
The couple was married in Iowa, and Judge Shelley Gaylord ruled that people in such marriages should be constitutionally allowed to adopt under state law.
The scope of the ruling may include only the lesbian couple, though, because it is unlikely the couple will appeal to a higher court.
Dana Brueck, Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen’s spokesperson, said in the article a trial court judge’s ruling does not necessarily set the precedent for other courts.
The Department of Justice previously declined to defend state adoption laws unless the case goes to an appeals court.
The couple, Kat and Teresa Riley, gave birth to a boy and a girl respectively, with the help of a sperm donor. The adoption gives each child benefits from both parents.
The ruling holds a level of urgency for Kat, a Madison Police Department detective. Under the ruling, if she is killed in the line of duty, financial and state benefits go to both children instead of just her biological child.
The Rileys are not the first couple to have this ruling, but, most proceedings take place behind closed doors, making it difficult to be certain.
"We look forward to years from now when we'll be talking about it with the kids and laughing about how ridiculous this was that we were adopting our own kids," Kat Riley said in the article.
