Israel Supreme Court: Historic Ruling In Favor of Gay Parents

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL — (12-13-18) — Israel Supreme Court of Justice made history yesterday ruling that gay parents names must be allowed to be added on to their child’s birth certificate.

This was a major victory for the LGBTQ community as Israel’s High Court ruled that the government has not jurisdiction to refuse to list both same-sex parents on a child’s birth certificate.

The decision, issued on December 12, comes from a lawsuit filed by a gay couple who had adopted a son and wanted their names on the boy’s birth certificate but was denied.

The historic case started when two gay men tried to obtain a birth certificate with both of their names listed as the parents. The officials at the Interior Ministry refused to do it.

Following their ordeal with the Interior Ministry, the gay couple filed a lawsuit in conjunction with The Aguda, Israel’s LGBTQ Task Force which advocates for LGBTQ civil rights.

The Israeli Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the decision wasn’t just about the parents’ rights but the child’s right to be recognized as the couple’s son.

“The principle of ‘the good of the child’ argues for the recording of his entire family unit,” wrote Judge Neal Hendel. “And doesn’t permit us to limit ourselves to only one of his parents in the birth certificate.  The contrast with the treatment of a child adopted by a heterosexual couple, who has the right to have both adopted parents written in a birth certificate, is a contrast that applies both to the child and to the parents.” wrote Judge Hendel.

Hendel added..”It is unreasonable for the couple to be legally recognized as parents but for the certificate not to give expression to that fact.” wrote  Judge Neal Hendel.

The Israeli Supreme Court has now ordered the Interior Ministry to issue a birth certificate with both fathers’ names added to it. This historic ruling could also affect two additional LGBT parenting cases that are soon to arrive in the High Court of Justice.

In one case, a lesbian couple is suing to have both of their names on their child’s birth certificate. Even though only one woman has a biological link to the child in question. While the other lawsuit takes up the concerns of a transgender man who wants to have his standing on his child’s birth certificate changed from mother to father.

We will monitor both cases and bring you updates as they become available.  However now is a time to celebrate this historic ruling by the Israeli Supreme Court.

Article by: Paul Goldberg, Staff Writer