In precedential ruling, Ramat Gan Family Court criticizes Interior Ministry’s requirement that baby’s egg donor file for adoption.

The Ramat Gan Family Court decided Sunday, in a precedential verdict, to recognize both women of a lesbian couple as the mothers of a baby boy.

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The lesbian couple underwent a medical procedure six years ago with the permission of the Health Ministry, in which the egg of one woman was fertilized with the sperm of an anonymous donor and implanted in the womb of her partner.

In 2007 their son was born, but the Interior Ministry only registered the child bearer as the son’s mother. The ministry refused to recognize the parental rights of the woman who donated the egg and required that she file for adoption. The couple refused the Interior Ministry’s requirement and, instead, appealed to the courts with a demand to recognize the donor as the baby’s second mother.

The state claimed it would not be possible to automatically recognize both women as mothers, and emphasized that prior to the approval of the fertilization procedure it was made clear to the complainants that the egg donor would not be recognized as the mother of the child.

Judge Alyssa Miller criticized the state’s requirements of the egg donor, “T”, to adopt the boy. “In the case before us, T and the minor are blood relatives. The minor is T’s flesh and blood,” the judge wrote in her precedential verdict. “Therefore, it is no clear reason why T could adopt him, a possibility that contradicts common sense and healthy logic.”

Following the verdict, the couple’s lawyer said, “This is a great achievement. This is a precedent not only on a national level, but on a worldwide level.”

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By:Ilan Lior

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