Equal birth rights granted

Women in same-sex relationships who have conceived their child though fertility treatment can now register both their names on the birth certificate.

This change in law only applies to female couples in England and Wales who were undergoing fertility treatment on or after 6 April 2009. Previously, the mum’s female partner wasn’t allowed to be registered as a parent.

A Home Office spokesperson has explained that there will be a provision for birth certificates to be used that have two “parent” sections, instead of mother and father sections.

 “This positive change means that, for the first time, female couples who have a child using fertility treatment have the same rights as their heterosexual counterparts to be shown as parents in the birth registration,” said Home Office Minister Lord Brett

“It is vital that we afford equality wherever we can in society, especially as family circumstances continue to change. This is an important step forward in that process.”