We got some very happy and surprising news yesterday. The government has finally enacted a law that was passed exactly 1 month before C’s birthday. This law will allow Lawyer to be on C’s birth certificate along with me, and all we have to do is show the IVF clinic paperwork.
It was meant to be enacted on June 23 2012, but I highly suspect that the birth of a federal senator’s daughter by her female partner may have sped things up a bit so that our state wouldn’t look so backwards.
The only catch on this is that it only for babies born via artificial reproductive technology, which thankfully covers us, but doesn’t cover a lot of couples who used the turkey baster method. And in our state ART is not available to lesbian couples unless medically infertile. So this means that couples would have to prove infertility, tell small lies to be able to use ART or like us, travel interstate. But it has now started the ball rolling to change the ART laws here. Fingers crossed this will snowball into more discriminatory laws being changed.
We got the forms for the new certificate today, we’re filling them out, and Lawyer is going to get the papers witnessed by a co-worker and then I’m walking them down to Births Deaths and Marriages to get submitted.
[promise my birth story is on the way]
December 16, 2011 at 11:52 pm
that is exciting! color me jealous
December 17, 2011 at 12:43 am
hooray! thats great news!
December 17, 2011 at 4:38 am
So glad for you! And yes, I hope that changes up things quickly so everyone can have birth certificates that represent their actual families.
December 17, 2011 at 1:06 pm
Fantastic!
I was so so happy when we got the birth certificate that says mother and mother. Here (NSW) AI includes a turkey baster.
December 21, 2011 at 10:16 am
Yay for the government getting on the ball! That is awesome!