Same sex kids to be recognised

By Mick Roberts

Lesbian couples who conceive a child through artificial fertilisation will be legally treated in the same way as opposite-sex parents under State Government reforms.
Human Rights Commissioner, Graeme Innes congratulated the NSW Government on the new law, which was encouraged as part of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission’s (HREOC) Same-Sex: Same Entitlements report, released in June 2007.
Under the changes Lesbian parents will be both named on a child’s birth certificate, meaning children in these families will have two legally recognised parents.
‘This will have an enormous impact on the day to day life of these families,’ Commissioner Innes said.
‘These same-sex parents and their children will now be more readily recognised by school and health authorities as able to make decisions about their children.
‘Children will also have equal rights to inheritance of the assets or workers compensation payments of both their parents if one or both parents are killed and injured.’
When a woman conceives a child through artificial fertilisation, the male partner is presumed to be the legal father, to the exclusion of the donor. Under the new laws, this presumption will be extended to cover the female de facto partner of a birth mother.
The reforms were an important step towards equality for same-sex parents in NSW
Commissioner Innes said.
‘If a person is discriminated against because they are living in a same-sex relationship, they will now have the same rights as a person discriminated against because of their marital status,’ said Mr Innes.