Fiona Mackinnon-Fox described having to endure a ‘horrible’ court case so that her wife could be named on their son’s birth certificate and said it was already hard enough for same-sex couples to have a child in Jersey let alone having to fight for parental
rights.
Another Islander, Kaye Nicholson-Horn, said the move would remove the financial pressure of having to go to court, and would also show that Jersey was ‘inclusive and recognises the rights of all families’.
A ministerial decision was recently signed authorising the drafting of changes to the Children (Jersey) Law 2002 and Marriage and Civil Status (Jersey) Law 2001, which both refer to parental rights.
Currently, same-sex couples can only obtain legal-parent status if they adopt their child via a court process. Without adoption, if one of the partners is the birth mother then the couple can only both obtain parental responsibility if a court makes a ‘residence order’.
It is proposed that the law be changed to allow same-sex parents to both be registered as a child’s legal parents without having to go to court and be named on a birth certificate and therefore automatically given parental responsibility. Opposite-sex civil partners should also be able to acquire legal-parent status and parental responsibility in the same way as a married couple, the decision states.
In addition, the law would be changed to allow parents whose child is born to a surrogate to become legal parents in Jersey, whereas currently some are forced to pursue legal action in the UK to do so.
Children born to same-sex couples who are married or in a civil partnership as well as those born to opposite-sex couples in civil partnerships would also be recognised as legitimate under the law, if the changes go ahead.
Ms Mackinnon-Fox welcomed the move and said: ‘Our experience of this [existing] process was hugely upsetting, as not only was my wife not allowed to be named on our son’s birth certificate, but during our parental rights court hearing we were subject to discrimination by the judge and made to provide certified copies of our civil-partnership certificate and our son’s birth certificate, both of which had never been asked for before in these types of cases and would never be asked for of a heterosexual couple.
‘Had this legislation been in place we would have had the happy memory of registering our son’s birth at the parish registrar and wouldn’t have had to endure the horrible experience at court.’
Mrs Nicholson-Horn, who has a son with wife Chantal, described the changes as ‘long-awaited’ and said she was hopeful they would be approved by the States when the draft legislation was brought before politicians.
‘It will give comfort and security to same-sex parent families that their children will be treated legally the same as children of heterosexual couples and that both parents have equal rights,’ she said.
‘Pregnancy and childbirth – and in our case years of fertility treatments – are stressful enough without being concerned that your partner won’t legally be seen as the parent of your child.
‘It also means that same-sex couples would no longer have to pay to go to court to attain parental rights separately, as we did, and ask a judge to grant permission to legally deem us a
family.
‘It would demonstrate that Jersey is inclusive and recognises the rights of all families to be protected under law.’
