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Raftopol et al. v. Ramey et al.

Raftopol et al. v. Ramey et al.

Status:

Closed

Outcome:

Victory

Court:

Supreme Court of Connecticut

Issues:

Marriage, Relationships and Family Protections

Attorneys:

Plaintiffs

American Society for Reproductive Medicine, Legal Professional Group of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, American Academy of Assisted Reproductive Technology Attorneys, Connecticut Fertility Associates and New England Fertility Institute

Attorneys

Lambda Legal
Thomas W. Ude, Jr.

Co-counsel
Bennet Klein and Karen Loewy of GLAD; Kenneth J. Bartschi and Karen L. Dowd, Horton, Shields and Knox; John Weltman and Scott Buckley, the Weltman Law Group

Counsel for the Raftopols
Victoria T. Ferrara, the Law Firm of Victoria T. Ferrara, P.C. , in Fairfield, Conn.

Case in which a same-sex married couple sued the Connecticut Department of Public Health because it refused to list both men as fathers of their twins born through a gestational surrogate.

Summary

Anthony and Shawn Raftopol have been together for 16 years. With a gestational surrogate—a surrogate who carries a child to whom she is not genetically related—who gave birth in April 2008, they added twin sons to their family, which already included their daughter. Shortly thereafter, Connecticut’s Department of Public Health refused to issue birth certificates for the boys listing the names of both fathers. After the trial court ruled in favor of the fathers and ordered the Department to issue corrected birth certificates, the Department appealed, which was transferred to the Supreme Court of Connecticut. Lambda Legal and co-counsel filed an amicus brief on behalf of a group of professional organizations involved with reproductive medicine that argues that the Court can and should confirm the legal relationships between these children and both of their intended parents by issuing pre-birth orders of parentage and by directing the Department of Public Health to issue birth certificates that reflect the joint parentage of these children.

History

  • March 2010 Our motion to file a brief on behalf of the amici was granted and the Connecticut Supreme Court heard oral argument.
  • January 2011 Supreme Court of Connecticut issued a decision affirming the trial court’s declaration that the Raftopols are the legal intended parents of the children, and affirming the order directing the Department of Public Health to issue replacement birth certificates listing both fathers as the parents.