S.Y. v. S.B

In S.Y. v. S.B. (2011) 201 Cal.App.4th 1023, the court applied the section 7611(d) parentage presumption in a case where one of the parents (the adoptive mother) did not want her former same-sex partner (S.Y.) to have any parenting rights after their relationship ended. Affirming the lower court's finding that S.Y. was entitled to presumed parent status, the appellate court held that regardless of whether the adoptive mother intended that S.Y. obtain parental status, the presumed parent finding was appropriate because the adoptive mother "allowed and encouraged S.Y. to function as the children's second parent from birth, and S.Y. openly embraced the rights and obligations of being a parent." (Id. at pp. 1026, 1035.) The S.Y. court also rejected the adoptive mother's claim that declaring S.Y. to be a presumed parent infringed upon her constitutional right to make decisions concerning the care, custody, and control of her children. (S.Y., supra, 201 Cal.App.4th at pp. 1026, 1037.) The court reasoned there was no constitutional infringement because, unlike the question of grandparent visitation addressed in Troxel v. Granville (2000), declaring S.Y. to be a parent did not extend rights to a nonparent. (Id. at p. 1037.)