Lesbian Couple in West Virginia Fights for Custody

The West Virginia Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case involving a lesbian couple's right to retain custody of their foster child after a lower court ruled it's in the child's best interest to be placed in the custody of a traditional couple.

For Kathryn Kutil and Cheryl Hess, their story began when Fayette Circuit Court Judge Paul Blake agreed to allow the couple to be the foster parents of an infant girl whose birth mother was a drug addict and father was unknown.  At the time Kutil and Hess were granted custody of the infant, the baby was going through withdrawals to due having cocaine, opiates, and benzodiazepines in her system. 

Hess and Kutil filed for permanent custody of the child a year after she was placed in their care.  To their surprise, both the Department of Health and Human Services and Judge Blake ruled to remove the baby girl from their custody, stating they felt it was best for the child to be placed in the home of an opposite-sex married couple.

Judge Blake said in his ruling that he agreed to allow Kutil and Hess to foster the baby because that was the best option at the time, but that it was never intended to be permanent.

"I think I've indicated time and time again, this court's opinion is that the best interest of a child is to be raised by a traditional family, mother and father," said Judge Blake.

Hess and Kutil immediately filed an appeal, arguing that Judge Blake exceeded his authority and violated their constitutional rights. In their appeal, they state that Blake is "setting a dangerous precedent" for discriminatory treatment of non-traditional parents and families.

West Virginia adoption laws state both individuals and married couples can adopt a child, but make no reference to same-sex adoptions.

For now, the court has agreed to allow the baby to remain with Hess and Kutil until the Supreme Court rules on the matter.

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