Karen Popoff and Bren Murray, and Peggy Gill and Michelle Gill, are two lesbian couples each of whom decided to have a child by assisted insemination. They went through all the steps of conception, using sperm from the Genesis fertility clinic. They went to prenatal classes together, and were together for their child's birth. But when they tried to register both parents on the birth certificate, Vital Statistics returned their application to register, saying that the parents both had to be biologically related to the child.
The four mothers took a human rights complaint. They pointed out that nothing in the law or on the form required a biological connection between the co-parent and the child. Genesis Clinic gave evidence that only 20% of assisted inseminations were with respect to same sex parents. Vital Statistics admitted it had never returned a form with a man's name and a woman's name on it, acknowledging that there was no way in that case to tell if the man was the child's biological father or the child's social father, where the two were different.
The tribunal held that it was discriminatory for Vital Stats to refuse to register same sex partners as parents in that circumstance. So it is now possible for lesbian co-mothers in B.C. to register both mothers as parents when their child is born.
The government took "judicial review" of the decision of the B.C Human Rights Tribunal, arguing that the tribunal did not have jurisdiction to order a particular form, but had to leave it up to Vital Statistics to decide how to create a form that treated lesbian comothers equally to other birth parents.
Vital Statistics is currently revising its forms. The fear is that the revision will be to require parents to make a declaration that they are genetically related to the child. This would end the possibility that lesbians can be listed on the birth certificate.
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