Isabella Miller-Jenkins is only four years old, but she is at the center of one of the most important legal battles of our time. A judge will soon decide whether a woman with no biological or adoptive ties to Isabella can legally be declared her mother.
It sounds incredible, but it is the logical result of where our anything-goes society has been leading us all these years.
As the Washington Post reports, Isabella was conceived via artificial insemination while her mother, Lisa Miller, was in a same-sex civil union with Janet Jenkins. But later the civil union fell apart. Lisa took Isabella and left Vermont for Virginia. She also returned to the Christian faith of her childhood and became "determined to ‘leave the [lesbian] lifestyle'." That meant that she no longer considered Janet to be Isabella's parent.
But in our reckless pursuit of getting whatever we want at all costs, our nation has begun interpreting the law in a way that reinforces all the fictions that Lisa Miller no longer believes.
The subhead in the Post article says it all: "Janet Jenkins and Lisa Miller got hitched and had a baby together." Together? Anybody who knows anything about biology knows that's impossible. But that's just how the courts are looking at it. As a judge in the case told Janet Jenkins's lawyer, Janet (the lesbian partner) "without question is presumed to be the natural parent…by the basis of the civil union." So in the court's eyes, Isabella is the child of two women, something biologically impossible.
How is it possible that laws and court procedures could have become so dangerously fantasy-based? Actually, we should not be surprised. Many modern parents have unwittingly been collaborating with the process for years. The Washington Post tells us how Judge Cohen explained it: "[C]onsider the situation of a heterosexual couple in which an infertile husband agrees for his wife to be artificially inseminated with donor sperm." In such a case, the judge stated, the husband would be presumed to have parental rights even though someone else had actually fathered the child.
It all ties together. Heterosexual couples have tacitly approved this practice of including a silent third partner in a marriage to produce a child. And then it makes it very difficult to cry foul when homosexuals do the same thing.
Isabella's plight shows us the tragic consequences of rejecting the biblical view of marriage, which provides for one man and one woman in the union to raise the child. Sure, there are extraordinary circumstances, and adoption is possible. But the norm is the norm, and the law has always recognized the natural moral order.
If Janet Jenkins wins her case — which may go all the way to the US Supreme Court — Isabella may be taken from her biological mother to live with a woman she barely remembers. And not only Isabella; many other children would also be threatened by this waving of the judicial magic wand to produce legal parents out of nowhere.
I urge you to visit our blog at thepoint.breakpoint.org to read more about this important story. We need to see how our attitude of "I can do anything I want, and it won't hurt anybody" has led to a situation that could hurt families everywhere.
February 27th, 2007 at 11:28 pm
The sad part of this story is the sheer number of times I have heard Catholics couples question the Church's teaching on unnatural methods to have children. All those folks selfishly think about is "Me! Me! Me!" and "my wants" rather than God's decision NOT to give them children.
I pray that all Catholics would worry more about God's will and not their own selfish wants.
Pax et Christus.
February 28th, 2007 at 7:11 am
The desire for children is a holy desire, not a selfish one. It becomes selfish when, as the above commenter notes, people utilize unnatural and immoral means to try to have a child, treating the child as a commodity rather than a gift. However, infertile Catholics live in a world where there is very little support for infertility within the Church and a lot of support in the secular world, where unethical treatments such as IVF are promoted as morally acceptable. Maybe if there were as much support and applause for infertile Catholics who accept God's will, remain open to life, and follow the Church's teachings as there is for faithful Catholics who have big families, these infertile couples wouldn't be so tempted to engage in illicit practices.
February 28th, 2007 at 11:08 am
I thought I was all cried out. What can each of us do to promote healthy, Christian family life? I know of a couple who shared that for 13 yrs of their first fourteen yrs of marriage (now 20 yrs), they cried, especially on their wedding anniversary, because they could not conceive. They have been long active in their parish, as well as Engaged & Marriage Encounter, witnessing powerfully that when you are open to life, the fruitfulness of married love is not only limited to having children.
May more people come to know of the groundbreaking work being done at the Pope Paul VI Institute in Omaha, in keeping with the Church's teaching. May we all keep guard over our thoughts & hearts that we in no way 'pre-judge' a couple on their family size.
May each of us, laity, clergy & relgious be joy filled examples of obedience & trust to the young and the disbelieving.
February 28th, 2007 at 11:44 am
Spice,
You have given me an idea. I think that I will talk to the head of the marriage preparation program at my parish to see if my husband and I can be guest speakers to educate the engaged couples about Church teaching on infertility, and to let them know about the Pope Paul VI institute as a resource. There is a lot of ignorance about the Church's teaching in this area. I have also considered contacting my parish's Respect Life committee to offer my services to help raise awareness about the life that gets destroyed during IVF, as I think a lot of people are unaware of what a serious life issue this is. Unfortunately, no one in my parish or diocese (or the Catholic hospitals in my area) has had a positive response to my request to start a support group for Catholics dealing with infertility, but I'm hoping I will have more success with these two other avenues. This ministry is currently very lacking, and it would be great to see it grow.
February 28th, 2007 at 11:59 am
The horrible thought here is that they may rule in Janet Jenkins favor, solely to set a precedence. Roe vs. Wade is unconstitutional (go do the research to find out all the ways that it is), but they will not repeal it (not willingly) because it now sets precedence upon which other laws and decisions have been made. They only need one decision to make other rulings on and down that slippery slope you go. We can't think for one second that this isn't in the minds of the judges, lawyers, and gays rights advocates!
We need to pray for this decision, more is hinging on it than we think!
February 28th, 2007 at 4:30 pm
Claire,
go for it! I've been following your commentary on the treatment of infertility in the Church, and your struggles to help it become more loving. The greater your struggles, the greater God's glory! I'll be praying for your success.
In Christ's love,
Arkanabar
February 28th, 2007 at 7:09 pm
Thanks, Arkanabar. I really appreciate your encouragement.