Michelle Kulstad is seeking joint custody of two children n an 8-year-old boy and a 5-year-old girl n adopted by Barbara Maniaci.
Kulstad testified that she provided for the children’s physical, psychological and developmental needs on a day-to-day basis and “made a commitment to both of them that I would always there to be their parent.”
“Terminating or reducing Ms. Kulstad’s contact with the children presents a risk of harm to the healthy development of these children,” she said.
Maniaci argues that Kulstad is neither a biological relative nor an adoptive parent to the children, and is asking the court to reject Kulstad’s request for parental rights.
Austin R. Nimrocks, an attorney for Maniaci, said his client paid the cost of the children’s adoption, nurtured them and is their “fit, natural parent.”
“Undermining the rights of fit parents harms families and children,” said Nimrocks, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, a national conservative legal agency. “A natural parent who has never been declared unfit as a parent has the right to prevent access to her children by legal strangers.”
He added that Maniaci is now married and is being “prevented from raising her children with her husband in the way they see fit.”
Attorneys for both sides said the same-sex parental rights trial, before District Judge Ed McLean, is a first in Montana.
Kulstad presented her case Thursday, saying that she and Maniaci were in a committed relationship for about 10 years. She said they two were living together in Turah when they decided Maniaci would adopt the young boy in 2004 and the girl in 2006.
Kulstad said she was not listed on either child’s adoption records because it is illegal in Montana for same-sex couples to adopt. She said the couple decided Maniaci would be the adoptive parent because Kulstad was working full-time and Maniaci would be able to spend more time with the kids. She added that Maniaci later created a will that gave her guardianship if anything happened to Maniaci.
Kulstad told the judge she supported the children financially and emotionally, and “they lived with me as a parent.”
According to court records, the women’s relationship eventually deteriorated, and Maniaci moved out, took the children with her and filed a restraining order against Kulstad.
After a March 2007 hearing on the restraining order, McLean ruled that Kulstad had an established parenting relationship with the kids and therefore had standing as a party to the parenting proceeding. He awarded Kulstad visitation rights and gave her access to records regarding the children’s schooling, day care, counseling, and medical and dental care.
Nimrocks said Kulstad has no legal relationship to the children and McLean’s ruling was contrary to Montana law and Maniaci’s “well-established constitutional rights.”
Maniaci’s attorneys argued in court records that Kulstad didn’t make important decisions regarding the life of Maniaci’s son and never functioned as his sole custodian “until ordered by this court.” They also claimed “the evidence does not demonstrate that Plaintiff (Kulstad) fulfilled the role or function of a parent with regard to her daughter.”
Maniaci has “testified to multiple, credible examples of instances where she functioned as the sole parent” to both her son and daughter, her attorneys said.
Two people n Cindy Garthwait and Dennis Radtke n were hired to meet with Kulstad and Maniaci and complete “home studies” with them before Maniaci was allowed to adopt. Garthwait and Radtke were both called to testify Thursday on behalf of Kulstad. Both said the women appeared to have a strong, healthy relationship that would provide a stable environment for a child. Garthwait and Radtke also said they believed Kulstad and Maniaci would both serve as parents to their adoptive children because that’s how the women presented the situation.
Dr. Cindy Miller, the psychologist who conducted the women’s parenting evaluation for the court, testified that the children have an important attachment to both Kulstad and Maniaci, and said Kulstad is a “stabilizing force” in the children’s lives. Miller said this was her first time completing a parenting plan for same-sex parents, but cited American Psychological Association literature that says there are no significant differences between children raised by same-sex parents and those raised by heterosexual parents.
Witnesses the defense planned to call Friday included Maniaci and Dr. Trayce Hansen, a psychologist from San Diego, Calif. Nimrocks said Hansen would debunk Miller’s testimony and provide scientific evidence that children raised by same-sex parents are more likely to be gay.
The trial was expected to wrap up Friday.
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