UK: Lesbian Couples Get Equal Birth Rights

In the UK, lesbian couples can now have each of their names put on the birth certificates of children conceived via artificial insemination.

The law change applies to female couples in England and Wales who were having fertility treatment on or after 6 April 2009. However critics say the change would be detrimental to family values. Previously, the mother's female partner could not be registered as a parent. But the change in the law confers legal parenthood on the mother's female partner. According to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, there were 728 lesbians who underwent in vitro fertilisation (IVF) between 1999 and 2006. And in the same period, there were 5,211 lesbian females who received donor insemination (DI) treatment.

The UK's Christian Medical Fellowship calls the law a "legal fiction" and "just madness" that no father is listed on the birth certificate.

(Tipped by JMG reader Gareth in Wales)