In re Parentage of L.B.

Carvin and Britain, partners in a nearly 12-year same-sex relationship, decided to have a child together using donated sperm, with Carvin assisting Britain's artificial insemination; the resulting child, L.B., called both women her mothers and was co-parented by them for six years, with both women holding themselves out as a family unit. After Carvin and Britain separated, Britain restricted Carvin's access to L.B., and Carvin filed a parentage petition. A family-court commissioner found Carvin was only a psychological parent lacking standing under the Uniform Parentage Act, and the trial court affirmed; the court of appeals reversed, finding Washington law allowed Carvin to be recognized as a de facto parent — someone without legal-parent status who may still be granted custody rights based on an established parent-like relationship. Britain appealed.