Doe v. Doe: Destroying the Presumption that Homosexual Parents are Unfit- The New Burden of Proof

In a recent decision concerning adoption, the Virginia Supreme Court declined to hold that every lesbian mother or homosexual father is per se an unfit parent. This finding was apparently at odds with Virginia statutes outlawing marriages between members of the same sex and making it a criminal offense to engage in a homosexual relationship. In rejecting the trial court\u27s use of a conclusive legal presumption that homosexuality is tantamount to a parent\u27s unfitness, the justices closely examined the effects of the appellant\u27s lesbianism upon her son to determine whether the consequences of harm to the child of allowing the parent-child relationship to continue are more severe than the consequences of its termination