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The Latest: Gay couple disagrees over consent to have child


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HONOLULU (AP) — The Latest on a child support battle between a divorced lesbian couple in Hawaii (all times local):

12:30 p.m.

Attorneys for a divorced lesbian couple agree that consent to having a baby together is a crucial issue in their child support dispute but disagree over whether both spouses gave it.

The Hawaii Supreme Court heard arguments Thursday in a case that national gay rights advocates say they're paying close attention to.

An attorney for the woman who wants to give up her parental rights says her client didn't agree to her then-wife getting pregnant through a sperm donor. Rebecca Copeland also says the woman wasn't there for the birth and never had any meaningful relationship with the child.

Lambda Legal attorney Peter Renn, representing the woman who gave birth, says they both decided to have the baby.

The child, who's now 2, was born during the couple's divorce.

___

10:40 p.m.

National gay rights advocates are watching a child support fight between a divorced lesbian couple in Hawaii.

A woman wants to sever her parental rights to a child her ex-wife gave birth to and is appealing a ruling denying that request. The Hawaii Supreme Court is set to hear arguments Thursday.

The court says the woman seeking to end her rights was on military deployment when her wife got pregnant through a sperm donor. The child was born amid their divorce.

Lambda Legal is representing the woman who gave birth and says the case will test marriage equality.

The National Center for Lesbian Rights says there are a handful of similar cases nationwide but that this is likely the first involving a same-sex married couple with a child support case before a state Supreme Court

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