Photo Credit: ABC News

Lesbian couple Maria Italiano and Cher Filippazzo asked their friend, gay man Massimilano Gerina to be their ‘sperm donor’ when they were first trying to have a child in 2008 and 2009.

When they were able to successful in 2009 with their baby girl, Emma Filippazzo, now 18 months, Italiano and Filippazzo once again approached Gerina asking him to sign a paper terminating his parental rights.

Essentially, Gerina would be agreeing to be considered the “sperm donor” and nothing else for the same-sex couple. Unhappy with this request, Gerina filed a petition to have his name be listed on Emma’s birth certificate.

After almost 2 years of legal battle in a Miami-Dade family court, Judge Antonio Marin signed off on listing both Emma’s lesbian moms and Gerina be listed on her birth certificate as parents.

One ABC News article explains:

“I am the father and I have visitation, but legally speaking they [Italiano and Filippazzo] are the parents, but that does not exclude me from Emma’s activities or major decisions,”

Sources: ABC News

Basically this means that in any other case, Gerina might have lost his rights as a parents in the case of Florida.

The case of having three parents listed on a birth certificate, as in the situation with Emma Fillippazzo may set precedent for future cases involving gay or same-sex parents in family court.