Family Law Issues

People with HIV often face discrimination in family court due to HIV-related stigma, assumptions about their health and ability to care for their family, and misconceptions about the routes and relative risks of HIV transmission. This discrimination is often compounded by other issues, such as race, socioeconomic status, and sexual orientation.

This HIV Policy Resource Bank category includes resources on parenting issues such as custody of children related to a divorce or separation action; health care for children of HIV positive mothers; health care for young people in state custody settings, including foster care; marriage rights for people with HIV; disclosure requirements for spouses; and permanency planning.

Highlighted Resources

Family Law Issues

Doe v. County of Centre, 242 F.3d 437 (3d Cir. 2001)

In Re: Child of J.M. and L.N., 2013 WL 5778225 (Minn. Ct. App. 2013)

Steven L. v. Dawn J., 561 N.Y.S.2d 322 (N.Y. Fam. Ct. 1990)

Newton v. Riley, 899 S.W.2d 509 (Ky. Ct. App. 1995)

Children of HIV-Infected Parents: Custody Status in a Nationally Representative Sample. Burton O. Cowgill et al., 120 AM. J. OF PEDIATRICS e.494 (2007)

Report of the Working Group on the Role of Sex and Sexuality, Nevada Law Journal (2006)

Family Planning and U.S. Foreign Policy, Isobel Coleman and Gayle Tzemach Lemmon, Council on Foreign Relations (2011)

Obama's Decision to Stop Defending DOMA Has No Immediate Impact on Payment of Benefits to Same-Sex Spouses (2011)

Send Lawyers, Guides and Money: The Legal Services Needs of People Living with HIV in the Southern United States, The Center for HIV Law and Policy (2010)

Recognition and Responding to the Needs of Low-Income Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Clients, Lisa Cisneros and Catherine Sakimura (2010)

Justice for All? A Report on the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered Youth in the New York Juvenile Justice System, Randi Feinstein, et al. (2001)

CHLP Releases First Legal and Medical Guide on HIV and Pregnancy (2009)

HIV and Pregnancy: Medical and Legal Considerations for Women and Their Advocates, Center for HIV Law and Policy (2009)

Doe v. Nebraska, 345 F.3d 593 (8th Cir. 2003)

Sample Expert Statement on HIV Transmission Risk, Center for HIV Law & Policy (2009)

Why Pediatricians Need Lawyers to Keep Children Healthy, Barry Zuckerman, et al., 114 Pediatrics 224 (2004)

Power of Attorney Laws: Citations by State, American Bar Association Commission on Law and Aging (2007)