Mixed reactions to lesbian custody case

FAMILY law reform campaigners have given widely differing reactions to a High Court judgment in the case of a man seeking guardianship of the baby he fathered for a lesbian couple.

The Gay and Lesbian Equality Network welcomed the ruling declaring that the couple and the baby constituted a family but the Fathers Rights Party said the decision was “outrageous” and reduced unmarried fathers to the status of “sperm donors”.

Christian values group the Iona Institute condemned the ruling as “anti-child and anti-father” and Fine Gael said it exposed the government’s “paralysis” in failing to make laws to deal with such dilemmas.