by E.J. Graff

About the author: E.J. Graff is an author and journalist who has written extensively on same-sex marriage and related issues.

Imagine waking up one morning to the news that because of a recent court decision, you may no longer be your child’s legal parent. Forget all those times you’ve read Goodnight Moon, those long nights you spent in a steam-filled bathroom trying to keep your sick child breathing. In the eyes of the law, you may suddenly be just a kind stranger. No emergency room, insurance plan, schoolteacher, tax man, or judge will count you as essential to your child.

Sound like one of Kafka’s nightmares? It’s what happened to thousands of California parents last October [2001], when a San Diego...