CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : SAN FRANCISCO : Lesbian Couple Will Adopt Stricken Boy

After months of caring for a child with AIDS, a lesbian couple in San Francisco won the right to adopt the 2-year-old boy. A judge awarded Millie Jessen and Sue Pavlik, partners for five years, joint custody of Eric, whose mother is dead and whose father said he would be unable to care for the child. Jessen and Pavlik offered their Alameda County home for foster care of children testing postive for the HIV virus that causes AIDS and took Eric home from the hospital when he was 5 weeks old. When they asked to adopt the boy, Jessen and Pavlik said they met official resistance for months.