A family in Maryland has been reunited after four years of living apart because of a Virginia court ruling that forced Karl Ulf Hedberg (pictured) to choose between living with his partner, Blaise Delahoussaye, or living with his son. In 2002, the court awarded Karl Ulf Hedberg custody of his 9-year-old son providing his partner moved out because the court didn’t see a parent with a live-in same-sex partner as an appropriate living situation for the child.
In fact, Delahoussaye’s moving out hurt the son more, and a Montgomery County Circuit Judge did the right thing: “William J. Rowan III’s ruling came after Hedberg presented evidence to show that the Virginia order had harmed his son, turning a two-parent home into a one-parent home, with attendant hardships.”
The couple had moved to Maryland because the state is “friendlier towards same-sex couples.”
A lawyer on the couple’s legal team says such situations are not uncommon: “There are many other families who are living under the burden of these discriminatory restrictions and many other children that are being hurt, and I am sure we are going to see more cases like this one.”
Gay Father Wins Custody Ruling baltimore sun]
