This case is about a married lesbian couple who used a known sperm donor to have a child. The couple raised the child together for more than two years. When the couple divorced, the sperm donor brought a lawsuit alleging that he—not the birth mother’s former spouse—is the child’s second legal parent.  Under Oklahoma’s Uniform Parentage Act, there is a strong presumption that both spouses are the legal parents of a child born to a married couple. That presumption can only be challenged under limited circumstances and within a strict two-year statute of limitations. After two years, the presumption is conclusive, and the legal parentage of the birth mother’s spouse cannot be challenged. The trial court erroneously held that because the UPA’s marital presumption uses gendered terms, it does not apply to a same-sex spouse.  Accordingly, the trial court held that the sperm donor is the child’s second legal parent.

NCLR represents the Kris Williams, the birth mother’s spouse, who is appealing this decision to the Oklahoma Supreme Court, on the ground that Oklahoma must treat married same-sex couples and their children equally, as required by Obergefell v. Hodges and Pavan v. Smith.