Children born outside the UK to a British parent in a same-sex relationship are left stateless by the Home Office, the Guardian has learned.
British citizens and their EU spouses say they have been told by the department that children born abroad to a British parent who was also born outside the UK do not qualify for British citizenship. If the UK is unwilling to issue documents, this has the added effect of leaving some children stateless in cases of EU countries that do not recognize two mothers.
The couples say they were left in limbo for many years, unable to leave the country where their child was born because they could not obtain a passport or other identity documents for them.
“Although UK citizenship laws do not explicitly discriminate against LGBTIQ+ parents, the implementation in practice and lack of regulation for children who may be stateless create these situations,” said Patricia Cabral, Legal Policy Coordinator at the European Network for stateless persons, who called for precautionary measures.
A landmark case, which is currently awaiting a decision by the Bulgarian courts, concerns a three-year-old girl, born in Spain to a British and Bulgarian mother, who has been stateless since birth three years ago.
Sarah with her Bulgarian and British mothers. Photo: Giveaway
Jane, the child’s British mother, was born in Gibraltar and moved to the UK when he was two weeks old. As she had acquired British citizenship by descent, she could not pass citizenship on to her daughter. The Ministry of Internal Affairs has repeatedly refused to issue a passport to the child.
“We were shocked that our daughter was refused a British passport,” said Jane. “We knew there would be challenges for him to get Bulgarian citizenship, but we didn’t expect this from Britain. We never thought that our child would end up without documents, without citizenship.
After their case was rejected in the Bulgarian courts, with the authorities there saying they do not recognize non-conventional families, the mothers took their case to the European Court of Justice, where it was decided that it was in Sarah’s best interests to be issued a Bulgarian passport.
On November 22, the family had a final hearing and are awaiting a decision from the Bulgarian courts on whether the government will comply with the EU court’s decision.
“It’s hard to watch our friends with young children travel and visit family and friends in other countries when we know we can’t,” Jane said. “We have elderly relatives who haven’t met Sarah yet – and we fear that if we don’t get to travel with her soon, they never will. The thought of that is so heartbreaking.”
Greek national Eleni Maravelia and her British wife Kate McArdle have been living in Spain since 2005. When their daughter was born in 2013, they were not yet married or in a civil partnership. The Spanish birth certificate, which included both mothers’ names, was not recognized in the UK, leaving their child stateless for a year. The birth of their daughter was later registered in Greece, where there are no laws allowing same-sex couples to have children.
Greek national Eleni Maravelia (left) and her British wife Kate McArdle. Photo: Giveaway
“To this day, even though we got married, my wife is not considered the mother of our daughter in the UK,” Maravelia said. “In both the UK and Greece our child has only one recognized parent. A lawyer told us that the only solution would be for my wife to apply for adoption, but we can only do that if we decide to return to the UK.’
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When their daughter was three months old, she was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a rare type of cancer that mostly affects babies and young children. While she underwent chemotherapy, the couple were told they could not have a British passport for their daughter, leaving her stateless.
“I cannot believe that a country as advanced in LGBTIQ and children’s rights as the UK does not automatically recognize a family from abroad and, more importantly, a child’s right to have their parents,” Maraveglia said. “I hope that the UK and other countries outside the EU realize that there are children who lose their parents every time their family crosses a border – this is unacceptable. This is not an LGBT issue, this is a children’s issue.”
Last week, the European Commission adopted a legislative proposal according to which parentage established in an EU member state must be recognized in all other member states. If enshrined in law, all EU countries will be required to implement the policy. As the UK has left the EU, the proposal will not affect families where one parent is a British citizen.
Arpi Avetisyan, head of litigation for the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA), said: “We know of at least eight couples, including a British partner, who have lost family rights when crossing borders – but the cases are only the tip of the iceberg. All children of LGBTI parents in the UK are at risk when they travel to a country where they ‘lose’ one or both parents.’
The Home Office is understood to be investigating issues arising from legislation whereby a female stepparent is recognized as the parent of a child for nationality purposes.
Referring to the case of McArdle and Maravelia, a government spokesman said: “We are urging the family to apply for citizenship so that we can properly assess the case.”
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