In late March, a federal district judge declared the ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional in the state of Michigan. That decision meant a great deal to the School of Social Work’s Jeanne Howard. Co-director of Illinois State’s Center for Adoption Studies, Howard has been actively involved in the court case for more than two years.
The case involved a lesbian couple, April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse, who wanted to jointly adopt their three children. The couple, who are both nurses, had been foster parents and raised the children, but under Michigan law only married couples or individuals can adopt. That meant they would have to choose either DeBoer or Rowse to be the children’s parent, but they could not adopt as a couple.
Having children adopted by only one parent of a same-sex couple puts the children at risk, said Howard, who has written extensively on the subject. “It makes one parent a ‘legal stranger’ to the children, which means children cannot benefit from both parents’ health insurance, social security benefits and a host of other benefits,” she said, adding that only one parent can make medical, educational or legal decisions for the child.
“Worst of all, if something happens to one of the parents, the children could be legally separated from their surviving parent,” said Howard. “This is the same for siblings who might be adopted by one parent but not the other. They are ‘legal strangers’ to each other, even though they live in the same house and are part of the same family.” She noted wills and other legal mechanisms can be challenged in court, so there is no guarantee a family will stay together without joint adoption.
DeBoer and Rowse filed a lawsuit in 2012, challenging Michigan’s adoption law and asking for joint adoption of the children. Howard, who has done research on adoption for years, was asked to consult on the case. Her role first consisted of helping interpret research on outcomes for children raised by lesbian or gay parents, as well as the research on adoption by lesbian or gay couples for the plaintiffs, but that changed when U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman decided the case was not simply about adoption, but about same-sex marriage.
“He reasoned that if a same-sex couple could marry, there would be no question if they could adopt,” said Howard, who was originally surprised the judge then called for a full trial on the case. At this point the American Civil Liberties Union and the Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders joined the Michigan attorneys who were leading the case.
Howard’s role grew exponentially with the announcement of a trial. Along with creating affidavits from research for the plaintiffs and briefing witnesses, she also began a critique of the opposing side’s arguments against same-sex marriage. “That was not hard,” said Howard, who quickly found flaws in the data. “The one study purporting to find a range of negative outcomes for children with gay or lesbian parents had profound weaknesses.”
The study claimed that a nationally representative sample showed children with gay or lesbian parents suffered. “Yet out of the hundreds of young adults in the study who were coded as having gay or lesbian parents, there were only two examples of children who had been actually raised by a same-sex couple. Only two,” said Howard. “And this was a study they planned to tout as conclusive evidence.”
DeBoer and Rowse react as Nessel reads the verdict in their case. Photo from the Detroit Free Press.
Howard also realized that none of the people working on the opposing side were social workers or psychologists who had a long record of research in this area. “It was clear they were scholars – economists and others – but none who studied adoption or who actually had worked with children and families,” she said. On top of that, much of their research was quite recent, unlike most of the experts for the plaintiffs, who had studied same sex parenting, adoption and marriage for years.
The judge agreed with Howard’s assessment, and that of the many experts who testified in support of ending the ban on same-sex couple adoption and marriage. He struck down the same-sex marriage ban as unconstitutional on March 21. In another surprising move, he did not stay the decision to wait for an appeal. “The next day, 300 same-sex couples lined up at county clerks’ offices across Michigan to get married,” said Howard.
A federal appeals court suspended gay marriages in Michigan a few days after the ruling, and will rule on Michigan’s appeal of the ruling in the next few months, meaning another courtroom date for the mothers and their lawyers.
Howard welcomes the fight, which will be heard by the 6th Federal Court of Appeals. “When it gets to this level, that means the ban on same-sex marriage could be overturned not only in Michigan, but in Tennessee, Ohio and Kentucky,” she said. “That impact is huge – for families, for children. I’m grateful to be part of it.”
Being part of the landmark case made Howard realize she was part of something that went beyond one couple’s fight for a family. “I feel the case really dealt a blow to the questionable research that would have been used in case after case against the adoption of children by same sex parents and against same sex marriage,” she said. “The judge’s thorough discrediting of the evidence presented by Michigan’s experts should make the fight to achieve marriage equality and adoption equality much easier in the future.”
Howard hopes the case will showcase that all good foster parents should have the right to adopt. She called DeBoer and Rowse “wonderful parents” who were chosen as foster parents for one of their children who came to the neonatal intensive care unit already addicted to several drugs through his mother. “The hospital sent him home with a loving foster care couple – April and Jayne – so he could die in a loving environment. But he did not die, and he is now three years old and laughs and is loved and is now part of their family.”
For Howard, the case was never really about marriage rights, but about helping children get adopted into a good home. “Children should never be kept from a loving and supportive home. Anything that throws up obstacles hurts children. And we know that there are thousands of children in foster care who need loving adoptive parents.”
