This is a first in France. On Wednesday, February 9, Toulouse’s Court of Appeal recognized the right of a transgender woman, who fathered a child during her transition, to be identified as a mother in the child’s birth certificate. Claire, 52, won her case after eight years of legal proceedings and can now name her daughter after her. A victory that represents a major step forward for transgender rights.
Since 2014, Claire (first name changed) and her partner have been fighting an injustice. The couple living in Hérault have three children, but their youngest was born after Claire changed her marital status. Born as husband and wife, she made her transition the moment she conceived the child. The registry office then refused to list Claire’s maternity identification on her daughter’s birth certificate. Only the surrogate mother was on the document, reports France Blue Occitania†
Not being recognized as the father, the officer tells Claire that his only solution is to resort to adoption, to become his own daughter’s adoptive mother. Which she refused.
Eight long years of legal battle
The two partners take legal action, determined to win their case. After being fired in 2015, the couple was offered an unprecedented interim solution by the Montpellier Court of Appeal. In 2018, the judiciary indeed ordered the listing of the transgender mother on her daughter’s birth certificate as a “biological parent”. A decision that satisfied neither the plaintiffs nor the Crown says: Release† In 2020, the case was referred to the Toulouse Court of Appeal.
By judgment of Wednesday 9 February, the same court finally ruled that two descendants on the mother’s side could be identified. She therefore authorizes the listing on Claire’s child’s birth certificate as a mother. Claire’s daughter can now also bear her last name, a “relief” for the couple.
In particular, to justify its decision, the court referred to: “in the best interests of the child” and the “right to privacy”reports France Blue. Two principles which establish, according to justice, the necessity of showing the child born of a couple of which one of the members is transgender that his parentage is doubly established with regard to both parents.
Could this judgment set a precedent?
This decision is a first in France. For Clelia Richard, Claire’s attorney, “This is a big step forward for transgender rights† Interviewed on France Intergreeted the lawyer “a victory of fundamental rights over the civil code that has been superseded by the right of descent” and felt the decision was there jurisprudence unambiguous. †
Philippe Reigné, professor of law at the National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts, nuances this aspect in the columns of Release † “The verdict creates the possibility of establishing parentage, but through a judicial solution, which is in a sense a last resort, not to mention that it is long and costly. The legislator must include this issue of transgender women’s ancestry so that it is integrated into the political debate.”he believes.
A groundbreaking decision that paves the way for greater recognition of transgender rights.