TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Jun 24, 2016

A Knox County judge ruled today that in the case of a divorcing same-sex couple, only the biological mother would retain parental rights. The Knoxville News Sentinel reports that although Erica Witt and Sabrina Witt’s daughter was conceived via artificial insemination and born during the couple’s marriage, Judge Greg McMillan opined that the non-biological parent, Erica Witt, has no "contractual" relationship with the child. After making the decision, Judge McMillan put the divorce on hold to allow Erica Witt’s attorney to appeal to the Tennessee Court of Appeals. "Given the novelty of this issue, the court thinks it appropriate to see if the appellate courts want to address this," he said.