in: http://www.usatoday.com/
It won't be long before 1-year-old quadruplets Derrick, Brianna, Anthony and Cason begin speaking their first words and calling out for mommy.
By John David Emmett, Gannett
Sheri Green, left, and Laura Cavin care for their quadruplets at home in Naples, Fla., on March 28.
But it may be quite some time before society and the legal system recognize same-sex couple Laura Cavin and Sheri Green, of Naples, Fla., in the same way.
Through the wonders of modern medicine, each woman carried two of the quadruplets, but they must adopt the other two to each have legal custody of all four.
Biologically, Derrick, Brianna, Anthony and Cason are Sheri's children. They were conceived from her eggs and donor sperm through in vitro fertilization when Laura and Sheri decided to start a family together. Two of the fertilized eggs were implanted into Laura and two into Sheri to improve the likelihood that all four would develop into successful pregnancies, the chance of which was less than 2 percent.
Both women became pregnant.
But the mothers only have legal rights to the two children each carried and delivered. To get full legal rights to all four children, Sheri and Laura must adopt each other's "birth children" through a second-parent adoption process; for more than 30 years, however, Florida banned adoption by gay people.
A 2010 Florida appeals court ruling upheld a Miami-Dade County judge's decision that called the ban unconstitutional. Since that ruling, more than 150 cases have been approved in Miami-Dade. There are at least three cases pending in Lee. Because filings aren't made public, it's unclear if there are others in Southwest Florida.
"It is uncertain when the cases will be decided," said the couple's Cape Coral-based attorney Harold Eskin, "but provided the outcomes are favorable, this will set the stage for others to follow and future cases should take less time."
State officials have said they won't challenge the appellate ruling.
Challenges beyond parenting
The fact that each mother can't legally claim all four children presents challenges on a number of fronts for the family.
"It would create more stability in families if the legislation was to keep up with societal changes," Eskin said. "It creates a hole or a gap, preventing children from getting the benefits of both parents. There are a lot of implications that come into play, not just parental rights."
Sheri, 38, works full time and has health insurance through her job as a physician's assistant. It covers Anthony and Cason, the two she carried. Laura, 28, is also a physician's assistant, but works part time so she doesn't have insurance. That means she receives Medicaid for Brianna and Derrick. Laura goes without coverage for herself because in order to qualify for Medicaid, she was asked to fill out required paternity paperwork listing the father as unknown. She refused. "I don't want it to look like they were an accident," she says.
There are also concerns about what could happen should one or both of the women die or become incapacitated. They have wills that appoint each other as legal guardians of their birth children, but this does not ensure the children will be kept together.
Dreams come true
Becoming a mother wasn't easy for either woman. They always knew they wanted children together. So about five years ago, they sought assistance from Dr. Craig Sweet, a reproductive endocrinologist and medical director of Specialists in Reproductive Medicine and Surgery in Fort Myers. Sheri provided her eggs, and a single embryo was transplanted into Laura's uterus. The embryo split and ultimately resulted in a twin pregnancy.
At 28 weeks, due to a rare condition known as twin-to-twin transfusion, Laura and Sheri lost the boys they had named Aiden and Branden.
"I was upset and sad; I turned more inward," Laura recalled. "Sheri was very angry. She felt wronged."
As they emerged from the tragedy, Laura and Sheri decided they wanted to try again.
"They came back to me having sustained the loss with so much optimism and vision to have a family together, I was really struck by their resolve," Sweet said.
Once again, they used Sheri's eggs, but this time, due to the loss of the twins, Sweet transplanted two fertilized eggs into each woman. Defying the odds, both women became pregnant.
"The chance that all four transferred embryos would implant and grow was less than 2 percent," Sweet said. "We were all amazed when the improbable occurred."
For the expectant mothers, the news was joyous and terrifying. They were expecting quadruplets.
"I was scared," Laura said. "I remember thinking that now I had to worry about four babies being born alive."
Sheri and Laura made plans to deliver on the same day, so the babies would share a birthday. However, on May 9, 2011, at 31 weeks, a partially ruptured placenta jeopardized one of the babies Laura was carrying and resulted in an emergency C-section.
The first of the quads, Brianna and Derrick, arrived.
The stress of the event triggered contractions in Sheri, placing her in the hospital. Two weeks later on May 23, Anthony and Cason were born.
All four babies spent the first month in the neonatal intensive care unit at North Collier Hospital.
One year later
Today, the quadruplets are thriving.
Sheri and Laura do not deny that caring for four infants is difficult, but there is not a hint of regret as they celebrate their first Mother's Day and the children's combined first birthday.
"We had a loss and everything is comparable to that. We're just glad they are here and healthy," Laura said.
"If they are crying, they are breathing. It's not the worst thing that could be going on," Sheri added.
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