Wait, how are they having babies when the same sex?
This is exceptionally dumb. UK law applicable to people born in the UK allows you to register a mother and a “second parent” of any sex.
It’s classic Home Office incompetence to refuse to recognise the same arrangement when it’s (gasp) *foreign*.
2/ Many EU countries don’t recognise two mothers on a birth certificate, leaving a child stateless if UK is unwilling to issue documentation.
In one case, the dept repeatedly refused to issue a passport for a three-year-old girl because her British mother was born in Gibraltar.
5/ Eleni, the girl’s Greek mother, said: “I cannot believe that a country so advanced in LGBTIQ and children’s rights like the UK doesn’t automatically recognise a family from abroad. This is not an LGBT issue, this is a children’s issue.”
Sometimes these things are down to things falling between the cracks of the legislation and is more of a “computer says no” situation rather than some deliberate attempt at discrimination. Some of the legislation has to play catch up.
>**children born abroad to a British parent who was also born outside the UK** are not eligible for British citizenship
That’s the same for everyone. To pass British citizenship on the parent has to born in the UK.
I’m fully in favour of both parents having their parental rights recognised; but I’m confused as to how a child is rendered stateless.
Are both Bulgaria and the other mother’s home country refusing to recognise the maternity of one or both parents, or is it that they can’t tell which one is biological, etc.?
In the case where the mother only had British citizenship by descent, did she lose another citizenship, or would she be just as stuck as a Gibraltar-born person with at least one British parent, if she’d had a child in Spain with a man?
The solution, either way, is to update British laws and Home Office practice (although part of their anti-immigration strategy is to make it difficult to be British), but it only seems to be part of the problem – the countries where the children are born need to avoid statelessness as well.
I’m sure the 7 people this people affect will be devastated. Meanwhile the entire UK continues to implode
I read through the entire article and still don’t understand what the problem is. The article never explains the gap in law or implementation of it that prevents same sex couples from doing things that opposite sex couples can
The only genuine detail was woman who was born outside UK and her kid is born outside UK, so kid doesn’t get citizenship automatically. But this has nothing to do with her being in same sex couple and law would have applied for opposite sex couple too
Looks like there’s two different issues playing into the cases here (which the Guardian is trying to equate as equal, despite the fact that one is a failing due to lack of recognition of same sex parents and the other is someone who was ignorant about nationality law.)
In the case of the Greek/UK relationship (on phone so can’t check names whilst typing) it does appear to be a Home Office issue where they’re not recognising the 2nd parent on the birth certificate as being British and able to pass nationality on.
In the Bulgarian/UK case, the UK component is nothing to do with LGBT, and is just standard application of nationality law that someone born outside the UK to a parent born outside the UK who got their citizenship by descent isn’t eligible for British citizenship. The child should be eligible for Bulgarian citizenship, and if that fails then Spanish (because it was born in Spain and would otherwise be stateless).
I was intrigued as to whether a sperm donor would be relevant to nationality issues – turns out the answer is “nope”
And people born in north east Ireland have to pay BritGov not to claim them.
This is normal
Both mums were born outwith the UK
Nothing to do with their gender or sexual preference
Child is eligible for Gibraltarian and Greek passports
**Gruinad is just spreading Discrimination FUD as per usual**
I had this exact problem with my kids, but we found out there was an extra clause in the government rules which gives an exception for people who are British by descent if, and only if, their own British parent was working for the UK government at the time of their birth.
Luckily, my Dad was working for the Department of Foreign investment & Development at the time I was born, so we scraped through that way.
Did they not look into the matter before they decided to have a child? In one case, the issue is that they didn’t marry or have a civil partnership. Ignorance of the law is not an excuse and the child is facing the consequences. Unfair or not, the parents have some responsibility for what has happened here.
15 comments
Wait, how are they having babies when the same sex?
This is exceptionally dumb. UK law applicable to people born in the UK allows you to register a mother and a “second parent” of any sex.
It’s classic Home Office incompetence to refuse to recognise the same arrangement when it’s (gasp) *foreign*.
2/ Many EU countries don’t recognise two mothers on a birth certificate, leaving a child stateless if UK is unwilling to issue documentation.
In one case, the dept repeatedly refused to issue a passport for a three-year-old girl because her British mother was born in Gibraltar.
5/ Eleni, the girl’s Greek mother, said: “I cannot believe that a country so advanced in LGBTIQ and children’s rights like the UK doesn’t automatically recognise a family from abroad. This is not an LGBT issue, this is a children’s issue.”
Sometimes these things are down to things falling between the cracks of the legislation and is more of a “computer says no” situation rather than some deliberate attempt at discrimination. Some of the legislation has to play catch up.
>**children born abroad to a British parent who was also born outside the UK** are not eligible for British citizenship
That’s the same for everyone. To pass British citizenship on the parent has to born in the UK.
I’m fully in favour of both parents having their parental rights recognised; but I’m confused as to how a child is rendered stateless.
Are both Bulgaria and the other mother’s home country refusing to recognise the maternity of one or both parents, or is it that they can’t tell which one is biological, etc.?
In the case where the mother only had British citizenship by descent, did she lose another citizenship, or would she be just as stuck as a Gibraltar-born person with at least one British parent, if she’d had a child in Spain with a man?
The solution, either way, is to update British laws and Home Office practice (although part of their anti-immigration strategy is to make it difficult to be British), but it only seems to be part of the problem – the countries where the children are born need to avoid statelessness as well.
I’m sure the 7 people this people affect will be devastated. Meanwhile the entire UK continues to implode
I read through the entire article and still don’t understand what the problem is. The article never explains the gap in law or implementation of it that prevents same sex couples from doing things that opposite sex couples can
The only genuine detail was woman who was born outside UK and her kid is born outside UK, so kid doesn’t get citizenship automatically. But this has nothing to do with her being in same sex couple and law would have applied for opposite sex couple too
Looks like there’s two different issues playing into the cases here (which the Guardian is trying to equate as equal, despite the fact that one is a failing due to lack of recognition of same sex parents and the other is someone who was ignorant about nationality law.)
In the case of the Greek/UK relationship (on phone so can’t check names whilst typing) it does appear to be a Home Office issue where they’re not recognising the 2nd parent on the birth certificate as being British and able to pass nationality on.
In the Bulgarian/UK case, the UK component is nothing to do with LGBT, and is just standard application of nationality law that someone born outside the UK to a parent born outside the UK who got their citizenship by descent isn’t eligible for British citizenship. The child should be eligible for Bulgarian citizenship, and if that fails then Spanish (because it was born in Spain and would otherwise be stateless).
I was intrigued as to whether a sperm donor would be relevant to nationality issues – turns out the answer is “nope”
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/how-to-get-a-passport-if-your-child-was-conceived-through-sperm-donation/children-conceived-through-sperm-donation
And people born in north east Ireland have to pay BritGov not to claim them.
This is normal
Both mums were born outwith the UK
Nothing to do with their gender or sexual preference
Child is eligible for Gibraltarian and Greek passports
**Gruinad is just spreading Discrimination FUD as per usual**
I had this exact problem with my kids, but we found out there was an extra clause in the government rules which gives an exception for people who are British by descent if, and only if, their own British parent was working for the UK government at the time of their birth.
Luckily, my Dad was working for the Department of Foreign investment & Development at the time I was born, so we scraped through that way.
Did they not look into the matter before they decided to have a child? In one case, the issue is that they didn’t marry or have a civil partnership. Ignorance of the law is not an excuse and the child is facing the consequences. Unfair or not, the parents have some responsibility for what has happened here.