[news] Gay Donor or Gay Dad?

That's the title of the cover story in today's New York Times magazine. One part of the article mentioned how lesbian couples are drawing up long agreements with the biological fathers of their children, but these carry little weight:

"Drawing up an agreement can have what Guy called "immense stop-look-and-listen value." That is, it makes "you think for a minute about what you're doing." But as he readily admitted, such documents --even when drawn up by a lawyer -- often carry little legal weight. According to Arthur Leonard, a New York Law School professor and an expert on sexuality and the law, families can draft as many documents as they want, but "in the eyes of the law a parent is either the biological parent or an adoptive parent or, in some jurisdictions, a de facto parent." At best, co-parenting agreements serve as a way to establish intent, which state courts can choose to factor into their decisions -- or not. Charged, above all, with looking out for the best interest of the child, judges are free to ignore even the most well-drawn documents."