Ohio Supreme Court to Rule on Same-Sex Parental Rights Case
Columbus, OH – This week, the Ohio Supreme Court heard arguments regarding a case that could have significant implications for how parentage laws apply to same-sex couples. The case centers on Priya Shahani and Carmen Edmonds, a couple from Ohio who raised three children together through artificial insemination but separated before same-sex marriage was legalized in the state.
Though Shahani was the biological mother of the children, both parents legally recognized each other as equal co-parents and gave their children the hyphenated last name “Edmonds-Shahani.” However, the couple never legally married, and their relationship ended in 2015, just before the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriage bans were unconstitutional.
The case escalated when Shahani removed “Edmonds” from their children’s last name and sought to terminate their formal parenting agreement. Edmonds subsequently petitioned the court in 2017 to establish her parental rights. However, the Hamilton County Juvenile Court ruled that Edmonds, as a non-biological parent and an unmarried partner, did not meet Ohio’s definition of a “parent.”
Following this, the trial court allowed Edmonds to maintain “companionship time” with the children but did not grant her the legal parentage she sought. Both parties appealed the decision, with the First District Appellate Court ordering further proceedings to determine if the couple would have married had same-sex marriage been legal at the time.
Shahani’s legal team argued that Ohio law does not permit retroactive marriages, while Edmonds’ lawyers claimed that the children’s identity and Edmonds’ parental rights were unfairly denied. This legal battle brings into question the future of same-sex parenting rights in Ohio and could have a lasting impact on how non-biological parents in same-sex relationships are treated under state law.
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