AG supports registration of two fathers on child's birth certificate
High Court of Justice hears two petitions by same-sex couples wishing to register both parents on their child's birth certificate; while AG Mandelblit supports request, Interior Minister Deri comes out against it.
The High Court of Justice heard two petitions Monday by same-sex couples who adopted children and asked the court to recognize both parents in their child's birth certificate.
In his response to a petition by a gay couple, Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit was in favor of accepting the parents' request, saying that failing to recognize both adoptive parents of the same gender in a child's birth certificate "hurts equality and does not serve a worthy purpose."
According to Mandelblit, this is a legal issue and not a social one."We are not dealing with single-sex couples' adoption rights, since it was made legal in 2008 on the basis of Mr. Meni Mazuz's—Israel's attorney general at the time—interpretation of the adoption law," Mandelblit explained. "We are only dealing with the registration of same-sex couples on the birth certificate."
Mandelblit even noted that "not allowing the registration of both parents may harm a minor whose well-being is of a major concern, as well as the parent who will not be registered as such in the birth certificate. This is unjustified."
Interior Minister Aryeh Deri, meanwhile, took the opposite stance, noting that "two fathers should not be registered on the birth certificate because the certificate's purpose is to reflect the factual situation at the time of birth. In addition, the certificate's form only allows room for the names of the mother and father."
Deri added that "this is a matter relating to the family structure in Israel, there is no violation of equality and there is no practical purpose to the petitioners' request, except for the symbolic recognition of their relationship."
Attorney Hagai Kalai, who represents the fathers alongside attorney Daniela Yaakobi, said: "The attorney general's position is great news, for the first time the state recognizes that the interior minister's policy is discriminatory and unacceptable."
The attorney added that Mandelblit also chose "not to order the Interior Ministry to stop discriminating against same-sex couples. Instead, he only pointed that out and rolled the hot potato towards the court."
"Let's hope that the court will indeed do what the attorney general is too afraid of doing, and will allow the registration of both parents of the same sex on birth certificates," the lawyer concluded.
'If I were a man, I'd only have to come and sign my name'
Another couple seeking the High Court's assistance are Orly and Ravit. Their story began about two years ago after the birth of their son, when the state refused to register Orly as his mother without a parenting order from a Family Court.
"If I were a man, I would just have to go to the Interior Ministry's registry clerk, write my name on a piece of paper, and that's it," Orly lamented.
"When it comes to an additional mother, like me, the state insists on standing idly by and sends us to court to issue an adoption order or parenting orders or any other procedure," she explained.
According to Orly, "this policy is discriminatory. First, there are many heterosexual couples where the father is not the biological parent, and no one sends him to court. Second, the state's position is consistent and is present on all fronts of the LGBT fight—they consider LGBT families to be unnatural. The time has come to move forward from this outdated ignorant position."
Ravit said that this situation makes life difficult for them. "Beyond the emotional difficulties, Orly cannot fly abroad with the child, she cannot take him to the hospital, heaven forbid, she cannot give permission to photograph or film him for the interviews we agreed to do."
"Overall, it's important to understand that if something happens to me, God forbid, Orly has no right to her child, who she has been lovingly taking care of for two years," Ravit said.
"It is an injustice that needs to be corrected, and I hope it will be corrected today," Ravit concluded.
A representative of the state, Attorney Nahi Benor, insisted that a court's parenting order is required before the two mothers can be registered.
Justice Neal Hendel suggested that the issue be discussed outside the courtroom: "Once, to get an order of inheritance—and I'm not comparing between the two of course—the petitioners came to the courts, until a new system was put in place according to which the petitioners submit their request to someone outside the courtroom who examines it."
"If the examiner finds the petition to be acceptable," Hendel added, "he would grant it. If not, the petitioners will go to court. It is possible that in many cases, there is no need for judicial proceedings."
According to Ravit and Orly's attorney, Hagai Kalai, "Any assistance is a blessing, and if the intention is that the Interior Ministry's procedure will include a clause regarding the statement of a parent who received a sperm donation—a statement that is identical to that of other parents—this is what we asked for."
"However, if the judge's intention was to prolong legal proceedings, then we disagree. Men who have children using sperm donation were never forced to make use of a parenting order in court," the lawyer concluded.
At the end of the court hearing, Ravit and Orly were excited. "The court's tone was different from what we heard in previous hearings," Orly said.
"We really hope for the best and we will have to wait for a verdict ... It seems that the judges understood that the state's position has no place, and we hope that this will be reflected in the verdict," Ravit added.
"We are only asking for equal rights," Ravit concluded.
During the hearing, about 50 activists from the LGBT community demonstrated outside the Supreme Court.
A member of the "Pink Panthers" protest group, who attended the demonstration, said that "Orly and Ravit are entering the courtroom not with the dozens activists outside, but with the backing of the 100,000 people who came to the LGBT demonstrations on Sunday, and with the overwhelming majority of Jewish people who support full equal rights for the LGBT community.
"The fact that the state forces us to come to court time after time after time for a civil right is a badge of shame for the Israeli government, the Knesset, the State of Israel," concluded the activists.
LGBT Association Chairperson Chen Arieli said that "it was disappointing to hear the state's position in the important and decisive hearing regarding the High Court of Justice's registration order. If we had any hope that the mass outcry would soften the state's position, we were proven wrong.
"In the face of harsh questions from High Court justices, who made it clear that the current situation cannot continue, the state chose to stand firm in its position and continue the ugly and vicious discrimination against LGBT families."
"We look forward to the Supreme Court ruling in the coming weeks in the hope that it will end the discrimination against LGBT families," Arieli concluded.
