Minister for Health Simon Harris is set to sign new regulations that would allow same-sex parents to legally register both of their names on their child’s birth certificate from next May.
At present, in most cases only one parent in a same-sex relationship can be a legal parent, which campaigners have described as “perilous” in the event of bereavement and illness.
Mr Harris will meet a number of the families involved and sign the regulations in their presence. This will allow same-sex parents to register both their names on their child’s birth cert from May 5, 2020.
Commenting on the matter, Harris said: “I will be committing to work with them on these issues in coming weeks and months. When I met with LGBT families a number of weeks ago, they pointed out the impractical realities of our current laws.
“While we know some of their issues will be addressed through the Assisted Human Reproduction Bill, there are areas that require some consideration.
“I have some proposals as to how to look at these matters but I want to discuss these with the families first and hope to make some progress on this next week,” concluded Harris.
