In re M.M.D. & B.H.M.
District of Columbia Court of Appeals
662 A.2d 837 (1995)
- Written by Haley Gintis, JD
Facts
In 1993 Bruce M. and Mark D., who were unmarried, petitioned to adopt a baby girl named Hillary. Bruce and Mark had met with Hillary’s mother (the mother) while she was pregnant. The mother agreed to the adoption and began living with Bruce and Mark until she delivered Hillary. After the delivery, the mother signed her consent for the adoption on the condition that she be allowed visitation. However, shortly after consenting to the adoption, the mother moved to vacate her consent on the ground that Bruce and Mark were not complying with the visitation arrangements. Following multiple discussions between Bruce, Mark, and the mother, a visitation agreement was reached, and the mother’s consent was reestablished. However, the trial court reviewing the adoption petition filed by Bruce and Mark held that the adoption statute did not allow an unmarried couple to adopt a child. The matter was appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Ferren, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,400 briefs, keyed to 994 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
