Israel’s High Court rules same-sex parents have right to be on birth certificate
The ruling comes as two dads were refused the right to both be named on their son's birth certificate
By Steve Brown
Israel’s High Court of Justice has ruled that both same-sex parents have the right to be on birth certificates in a landmark decision.
According to the Times of Israel, the ruling comes after two men adopted a son and tried to get both names on his birth certificate but Ministry officials refused.
When the couple appealed, the officials said the refusal could have ramifications for both them and their son in the future.
But on Wednesday (December 12), Justice Neal Hendel – along with justices George Kara and Meni Mazuz – agreed that both parents should have the right to be on the birth certificate and said it was for the “good of the child”.
Hendel said: “The principle of ‘the good of the child’ argues for the recording of his entire family unit.
“[It] 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.
“It is unreasonable for the couple to be [legally] recognised as parents but for the certificate not to give expression to that fact.”