The biological mother of a little girl, now aged three, has been awarded custody of her daughter after she changed her mind about allowing a lesbian couple to adopt her.
The couple, known as Ms Blaze and Ms Darnley, had been unable to have their own children and entered into an agreement with a friend, Ms Grady.
The couple took care of the child from the moment she was born and lived with Ms Grady during her pregnancy and helped run the household, SMH reports.
In a parenting plan drawn up by a lawyer, referred to in court as a “quasi-adoption”, Ms Grady requested that she and her three other children have “some ongoing relationship” with the child, although no details were specified.
All three women are profoundly deaf and communicate using Ausland sign language.
Three months after the baby was born, Ms Grady discovered another man was the biological father.
The man, known as Mr Harper, said he wanted a relationship with his daughter and would give financial support.
In October 2013, Ms Grady said she had changed her mind and decided she wanted her daughter back, along with the support of Mr Harper.
She then “reclaimed” the baby six months later, forcing Ms Blaze and Ms Darnley to get the authorities involved.
In an interim judgment the Federal Circuit Court ordered the girl live primarily with the couple.
Yet in a trial, Justice Michael Kent overturned the ruling, stating that while it is in the child’s best interest to have meaningful relationships with both Ms Blaze and Ms Darnley, the toddler was to live primarily with her parents, initially spending one weekend a month with Ms Blaze and Ms Darnley, however they will have no legal parental responsibility for her.
While she was allowed to keep her first name he ruled that her surname be changed from Blaze-Darnley to Grady-Harper.
