Another victory on the way to equal rights for same-sex couples
The Family Court in Rishon Lezion recently issued, at the request of a lesbian couple, a parental order that recognizes the partner of the biological mother as another parent of the minor. It was another step in a series of rulings, of which I will mention a ruling from 2019 given in Haifa by the Honorable Judge Sari Giussi, in which the way was paved for granting full rights to the newborn to two lesbian women, from the day of his birth.
These days the Supreme Court ruled so and created a binding law
I am happy to report to the readers about another step in the legislation of the rights of the members of the gay community which was done with the help of enlightened jurists, who are not waiting for the faltering Knesset legislation.
The Ministry of Welfare and Social Services in the Tel Aviv district opposed the couple's request, and claimed that parentage must be determined starting from the date the request was submitted - 9 months after the birth of the minor.
The Vice President, Judge Nachshon Fisher, who was sitting on the bench, recently ruled that the parentage order will apply retroactively from the birth of the minor, while noting that parentage is something that takes shape long before birth, especially for same-sex couples, and it is of the utmost social importance to recognize this.
The applicants are spouses who met at their workplace in 2016, and since then they maintain a warm and loving relationship, live together and run a joint household. In 2018, they signed a financial agreement before a notary in which they decided to expand their family and have children.
The two approached the sperm bank together, chose a potential donor and shared the costs of financing the fertility treatments. At the end of the day, by mutual decision one of them got pregnant, and in September 2019 the minor was born.
About 9 months after the birth, the two submitted a request for a judicial parentage order, which would state that the daughter of the couple who did not give birth to the minor is an additional parent of the minor, starting from his birth.
The Ministry of Social Affairs claimed on the other hand, that the application was submitted late, and in accordance with the instructions of the Attorney General, agreed to recognize parentage only from the date of submission of the application and not from the date of birth.
Parenting begins before birth
During the proceedings, the Supreme Court issued a ruling on the matter. The Supreme Court ruled that the period in which it is possible to consent to the retroactive application of a parental order from the day of birth must be extended from 6 months to 9 months. It was established as a transitional provision that only in applications that are submitted after a longer period of time has passed since the birth, parentage will be recognized from the date of submission of the application.
In light of the Supreme Court's ruling, Judge Nachshon Fisher stated that the claims of the Ministry of Welfare regarding the delay are no longer relevant and therefore, in the spirit of the Supreme Court's binding ruling, decided that the parentage order will apply from the date of the minor's birth.
The judge added beyond the requirement that even without the Supreme Court's ruling he would have accepted the request.
The judge justified his decision and said that in his opinion, in the case of same-sex couples, parenthood is established long before birth. The decision to expand the family unit is formed at an early stage, and behind it stands a common desire and intention to have offspring.
This is a procedure in which both spouses invest mental and financial resources, even before the pregnancy occurs. The judge went on to say that the parenting of same-sex couples is no different from the parenting of heterosexual couples, and the state's requirement to stick to strict procedures harms the value of equality and their right to parenthood and family.
Another victory on the way to enforcing the full rights of lesbian partners to start a family and share parental status between them for the child born as a result of their initiative to start a family in Israel.
Credit to the original reporter: Attorney Ronit Mer, on the "Verdict" website.
Father and mother, the rest of the family is an abomination
Beautiful article Shlomo Yuval. Shabbat Shalom
It is a shame that there are no studies on the mental development of the child growing up with two mothers or two fathers. Apparently no studies are done in order not to "upset" the community.
charming