Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/14pdf/14-556_3204.pdf
Page Number: 10.0

Cite as:  576 U. S. ____ (2015) 

5 

Opinion of the Court 

Ohio to Maryland, where same-sex marriage was legal.  It 
was  difficult  for  Arthur  to  move,  and  so  the  couple  were 
wed inside a medical transport plane as it remained on the
tarmac  in  Baltimore.    Three  months  later,  Arthur  died. 
Ohio  law  does  not  permit  Obergefell  to  be  listed  as  the
surviving spouse on Arthur’s death certificate.  By statute, 
they  must  remain  strangers  even  in  death,  a  state-
imposed separation Obergefell deems “hurtful for the rest
of time.”  App. in No. 14–556 etc., p. 38.  He brought suit 
to  be  shown  as  the  surviving  spouse  on  Arthur’s  death 
certificate. 

April  DeBoer  and  Jayne  Rowse  are  co-plaintiffs  in  the
case from Michigan.  They celebrated a commitment cere-
mony  to  honor  their  permanent  relation  in  2007.    They
both work as nurses, DeBoer in a neonatal unit and Rowse 
in  an  emergency  unit.    In  2009,  DeBoer  and  Rowse  fos-
tered and then adopted a baby boy.  Later that same year,
they  welcomed  another  son  into  their  family.    The  new 
baby,  born  prematurely  and  abandoned  by  his  biological
mother, required around-the-clock  care.  The next year,  a 
baby girl with special needs joined their family.  Michigan,
however,  permits  only  opposite-sex  married  couples  or 
single individuals to adopt, so each child can have only one
woman as his or her legal parent.  If an emergency were to
arise,  schools  and  hospitals  may  treat  the  three  children 
as if they had only one parent.  And, were tragedy to befall
either  DeBoer  or  Rowse,  the  other  would  have  no  legal
rights  over  the  children  she  had  not  been  permitted  to
adopt.  This couple seeks relief from the continuing uncer-
tainty their unmarried status creates in their lives. 

Army  Reserve  Sergeant  First  Class  Ijpe  DeKoe  and  his
partner  Thomas  Kostura,  co-plaintiffs  in  the  Tennessee 
case, fell in love.  In 2011, DeKoe received orders to deploy
to  Afghanistan.  Before  leaving,  he  and  Kostura  married 
in New York.  A week later, DeKoe began his deployment,
which lasted for almost a year.  When he returned, the two