A hardworking lesbian Marine and her public-school teacher wife can now comfortably start a family — thanks to financial security and health benefits afforded by new federal marriage rights.
Capt. Tricia Connelly, 33 — who fought in Afghanistan and is now stationed in Bahrain — and her wife, Nicole Connelly, 37, plan to have a baby this year with the help of new military perks.
“This is a big deal!” said Nicole, a teacher at PS 19 in the East Village.
Before the Supreme Court’s ruling, “when she [was] deployed I [couldn’t] go see a doctor on base because I don’t have a spousal ID card,” Nicole said.
But that — and a lot more — is about to change and will bring in mounds of cost savings.
“I can now receive a pension, medical benefits, I’m next of kin — this will mean thousands of dollars,” Nicole said.
The couple married in January at the Brooklyn Municipal Building.
Tricia — who is an NYPD cop in the 13th Precinct — was deployed just weeks later.
Nicole will also begin receiving military stipends for married couples — which also add up to thousands of dollars annually.
Other, new perks include a housing allowance and spousal separation pay.
The couple expect to have a baby in summer 2014, after they find a sperm donor and use Tricia’s eggs and Nicole’s womb. The procedure will be financed in part with military health care.
The couple met in Charlotte, NC, in 2002 while Nicole was a bartender and rookie teacher.
The couple spoke earlier yesterday just after the Supreme Court’s ruling was announced.
Nicole told Tricia, “We did it!”