By Janice Morse
Enquirer staff writer

At the 12th District Court of Appeals, Cheryl (left) and Jennifer McKettrick speak Tuesday. They want to have shared custody of their son. Cheryl donated her egg and Jennifer gave birth. The Enquirer/GLENN HARTONG

MIDDLETOWN - Ohio's legal system has yet to recognize a Mason lesbian couple as parents with equal responsibilities.

But their 31/2-year-old son, Joshua, does.

"When we left him this morning with the child-care provider, he said, 'I love you, Mommies!'" said Cheryl McKettrick as she and her partner, Jennifer McKettrick, stood outside an Ohio appeals court Tuesday after a hearing over the women's legal parental status.

The Ohio 12th District Court of Appeals in Middletown is considering whether the women's shared-custody agreement for "Baby J" should be legally accepted, giving both women legal authority to make important decisions for the child.

"We're here asking the (appeals) court: Bring justice to this family. They've been waiting 3 1/2 years," said the women's attorney, Heather Sawyer of Lambda Legal, a national organization that works for civil rights of lesbians, gays and others.

Sawyer argued before a three-judge panel Tuesday that a Warren County court last year made a mistake by rejecting the women's shared-custody agreement. In a 2002 case involving a lesbian couple rearing children together, the Ohio Supreme Court directed lower courts to "look at the facts of the case and to find out if the best interest of the child is served," Sawyer said.

Sawyer said she is fighting for a principle: "To get the courts to follow Ohio law and to really recognize that the same rules apply to gay and lesbian families."

The McKettricks publicly declared their lifelong commitment to each other in a 2000 ceremony, which has no legal standing because Ohio does not recognize same-sex marriages. Jennifer gave birth to Joshua, the product of an egg that Cheryl donated and was borne by her partner. The women began preparing for a shared-custody agreement even before Joshua was born. But as of now, "the law hasn't really made a declaration as to either parent at this point," Sawyer said.

Because of the legal uncertainty, the women have hit snags.

When Joshua was an infant, he was running a fever and the McKettricks decided he needed to go to the hospital. While he was in distress, the women spent precious minutes helping a hospital employee "figure out how to put our names in the (computer), and who is his parent and who has his insurance," Jennifer McKettrick said.

He got the care he needed. But the women fear a hospital administrator might balk someday.

"If someone challenges either parent's authority, what do they do?" Sawyer said.

The agreement would avoid that - and would ensure that the child would continue to receive financial and other support if one of the women would die or if the couple would separate.

"I think the (Warren County) court erroneously believed that maybe there was a reason to treat this differently when the Ohio Supreme Court has made absolutely clear: You don't treat this differently," Sawyer said.

Cheryl McKettrick said she and Jennifer can do little now except wait. "And we hope that the judges today have open minds and open hearts and are truly focused on the best interests of Joshua," she said.

E-mail jmorse@enquirer.com