The ACLU of Utah and the national ACLU LGBT Project filed a lawsuit to force the State Office of Vital Records and Statistics to recognize a married same-sex couple as legal parents of their child. The lawsuit was filed in Utah federal court on April 13, 2015, on behalf of Angie and Kami Roe, who sought to both be recognized as parents to their daughter, Lucy.
Under Utah’s assisted reproduction statute, the husband of a woman who conceives with donated sperm is automatically recognized as the child’s parent. But because Angie is Kami’s wife instead of her husband, the State Office of Vital Records and Statistics refused to recognize Angie as Lucy’s parent.
On Wednesday, July 15, 2015, U.S. District Judge Dee Benson ruled that the State Office of Vital Records and Statistics must recognize a same-sex married couple as legal parents of their child. The ruling holds that the state must apply Utah’s assisted reproduction parentage statute equally to same and different-sex spouses. The Utah Attorney Generals office has said that the ruling will not be appealed.
