Raymond T. v. Samantha G.

David S. and Raymond T. (plaintiffs), a married couple, entered into a tri-parent preconception agreement with their mutual friend, Samantha G. (defendant), to conceive and raise a child together. David and Raymond both provided artificial insemination material to Samantha on a regular basis until she fell pregnant. It was determined after birth that the child, Matthew, was David’s biological child, making David and Samantha the biological parents. Matthew resided with Samantha but had regular visitation with both David and Raymond. Samantha, David, and Raymond all referred to each other, both publicly and privately, as Matthew’s parents. Approximately one year after Matthew’s birth, the relationship between Samantha, David, and Raymond deteriorated. David and Raymond filed a family-court petition seeking custody and visitation with Matthew, arguing that Raymond should have standing based on the preconception agreement, despite not being Matthew’s biological or adoptive parent. Samantha challenged and sought sole custody of Matthew. Samantha conceded that Raymond had standing to seek custody and visitation under the preconception agreement. Because Raymond was seeking custody and visitation of a child who already had two legal parents, the family court ordered the submission of legal memoranda on the issue of third-parent standing in custody proceedings.