What is another situation where a parent is considered a "psychological parent"?

Question

I read online that if two lesbain couples agreed to have a child and the lesbian biological mother of the child died, then the existing mother would be considered the "psychological parent."


Would the same term be used if a man with a child from a previous marriage was with another woman? If the man stayed with the woman for a very long time and never married her, could the child refer to the other woman as a psychological parent since they are not related through blood?

Answer 1

Brooke,

The term seems to be more of a "legal" one than a psychological one, per se. In other words, it is a terminology that was created for use in court custody hearings, to show why one person might have more rights to parent a child than the biological parent.

(Originally, biological parents had much more clout and still do, I suppose, when it came to custody.)

I saw the term mentioned in other cases when it came down to deciding custody between a biological father and the "psychological" father -- i.e., the man who physically sired the son, versus the man who raised him. These men were not in a relationship at all, and the term "psychological parent" was still used.

Based on how it has legally been used, I think your scenario would be applicable -- a case COULD be made that the woman is the child's "psychological mother" even though she never gave birth to him herself.

Some people have had concerns over this. It seems to make sense in cases where one adult has raised the child and given so much of themselves to the child, and then the biological parent (who has been absent for years) shows up and demands rights to the child just because of biology.

But there are those who are afraid that adults without true claim to the child could just show up and claim "psychological parent" status over the child, if they have been involved in some way with the child's life, against the wishes of the parent who has always been there and has taken care of the child from Day #1.

I'm not sure of the statistics of how this has played out in court, to know how much these fears are justified wide-scale.

Hope that helps.

Answer 2

i don't see why not! i've got by no ability heard this term 'psychological be sure', yet each individual who isn't a organic and organic be sure yet cares for the youngster could in effective condition that description, i think.