lesbian mother

In the case Chicoine v. Chicoine (S.D. 1992), the parties were married for three years before the wife engaged in a series of openly same-sex affairs. The husband obtained a temporary custody order for their two children and later filed for divorce on the grounds of extreme cruelty. The trial court awarded custody to the husband, granted the wife restricted visitation including unsupervised overnight visits, and imposed an additional condition prohibiting unrelated women or gay men from being present during the visitation.

The Law of 5 May 2014 amended the Civil Code to simplify the legal recognition of the co-mother in lesbian couples. Prior to this reform, the partner of the biological mother was required to adopt the child to be legally recognized as a parent. Under the new provisions, in married couples, the wife of the biological mother is automatically recognized as the child’s co-mother. For unmarried couples, the partner must officially recognize the child before or after birth.