Legal Industry News
Welcome to The KCJ News Service
Family law change gives lesbians equal birth rights
Practice area: Family Law
Lesbian couples have been awarded the right to register both their names on a child's birth certificate thanks to a new
family law change.
Under the new ruling, lesbians who conceive a child via fertility treatment can now be registered as legal parents, even if they are not in a civil partnership.
This marks a change from the existing law, which had up to this point prohibited a biological mother's female partner from receiving full parenting rights.
The move has been hailed by gay and lesbian rights group Stonewall as a positive step which will allow homosexual couples access to the services and legal protection they will require while raising a family.
Ruth Hunt, the group's head of policy and research, added that it will now be easier for those facing discrimination to demand fair treatment.
Neale Grearson, a family partner at KCJ, agrees this is a logical and fair step forward: "Over recent years, the area of
family law has taken huge strides forward to reflect the diversity of relationships in our society and bring greater fairness to the law.
"This change is a further welcome development and acknowledges the vital role both parents play in the upbringing of a child, whatever the relationship between the parents."
This comes after gay rights activist Peter Tatchell suggested last month that same-sex couples are increasingly moving beyond demand for civil partnerships and are now demanding legal parity with heterosexual unions.
← back to news
