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Harlan Vaughn and Rebekah Wilson with son Warren and a new baby.Instagram

(LifeSiteNews) — An Oklahoma judge has ruled that a sperm-donor child belongs with his mother and biological father and not with the lesbian ex-“wife,” citing both biological reasons and the ex-“wife’s” decision “not to adopt” the child.

In the February 13 decision, Judge Lynne McGuire cited Oklahoma law, according to which the mother, Rebekah Wilson, and the sperm donor, Harlan Vaughn, are the legal parents of baby boy Warren.

In explaining the ruling, McGuire pointed out that Wilson’s ex-girlfriend, Kris Williams, “did not give birth to” Warren, and “therefore cannot establish a mother-child relationship” with him under Oklahoma law. She also noted that Williams “was born a woman, and therefore cannot establish a father-child relationship” with the child.

McGuire also cited the fact that Williams “did not adopt the minor child,” also making her incapable of establishing a “mother-child” relationship under Oklahoma law.

Unusually, Wilson had begun living with the biological father, Vaughn, since November 2021, the court ruling stated, and in December 2021 had filed for a Petition of Dissolution of (so-called) “Marriage” with Williams, with whom she had originally planned on raising her child.

Wilson had previously shared in a local publication that she made the decision together with Williams to raise a child whom she would conceive with the help of a sperm donor. They then decided they wanted to get “married,” “not because of any traditional reason but to establish Kris’ parentage on legal documentation,” according to Wilson.

Wilson and Williams had made a false assumption, since, as Judge McGuire would point out,  Oklahoma’s Uniform Parentage Act “does not take into account” so-called same-sex “marriage,” and in the Act “there is no presumption that the wife of the mother is automatically the presumed parent of a child born during the marriage.”

After reading a story from a donor-conceived person about how she wished the couple who raised her understood that her biological father was not just a “sperm donor,” but was her “dad,” the lesbian couple decided it was important that Wilson’s baby grow up knowing his biological father.

Wilson and Williams “married” in June 2019 before Wilson gave birth to Warren in August, giving him the surname of Williams, who was listed as “Second Mother” on the birth certificate.

As Wilson explained in her article for Metro Family Magazine, they video-called Vaughn every week in their efforts to make Warren’s father a part of his life. Both Wilson and McGuire pointed out that Warren referred to Vaughn as “dad.”

When Vaughn moved to Oklahoma City in October 2021, he began spending time with Warren in person, according to the court document.

Wilson’s girlfriend “was actively involved in the minor child’s life up until November 2021 at which time Wilson obtained a Victim Protective Order against Williams and moved in with Vaughn,” the doc continues. Williams has had no contact with Warren since then.

In December, Wilson alleged “domestic abuse and harassment” by Williams. Warren was included in an Emergency Order of Protection that month, “which resulted in a no-contact order between Williams” and Warren.

Williams’ attorney, Robyn Hopkins, said she plans to appeal what she described as “the first kind of case with these facts,” the New York Post reported.

Hopkins believes the fact that Williams “is on the birth certificate of this child,” and that she and Wilson “were married” indicates Warren was “a child of the marriage.”

Vaughn told KFOR that he and Wilson “remain focused exclusively on our child’s protection and well-being. We are grateful for the court’s validation.” Wilson’s attorney declined comment.

Vaughn appears to have embraced his role as father of Warren, and has conceived another child with Wilson, as his Instagram page shows.

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