Herald Sun – “Non-birth parents can now be named on birth certificates” by Sally Bennett
LITTLE Drew Hardy-Hughes and her two mothers are now legally recognised as a family in Victoria.
Sweeping January 1 changes to the state’s reproductive laws mean that non-birth parents can now be named on birth certificates.
Drew’s parents Eilis Hughes and Kristen Hardy, of Werribee, were among the first lesbian couples to act on the landmark legislation.
The birth certificate of their two-year-old daughter, conceived using a known donor, will now list Ms Hughes as the birth mother and Ms Hardy as the other "parent".
"Symbolically it’s huge," Ms Hughes said. "It says that we are a family unit and no one can dispute that.
"We had to fight to be visible, and it was also insulting to Kristen, who’s done all that hard parenting work, for there to be nothing to say that she is a parent."
The victory for the gay and lesbian community sparked outrage last year when it was revealed that all couples seeking fertility treatment would be forced to have police checks once the new laws were enacted. The move, designed to ensure that IVF patients are fit to be parents, was condemned as discriminatory and insulting to couples struggling to conceive.
