The Transcription of the Birth Certificates of the Children of Same-Sex Couples

Abstract

Until very recently, the Polish civil registry offices and administration courts refused to transcribe foreign birth certificates of the children of homosexual couples (biological children of one of the partners, adopted children or children born through surrogacy). The aim of the article is to critically analyze this practice. As Polish law stands today, children who are refused a transcription of their birth certificate have no possibility to obtain Polish documents confirming their Polish citizenship (such as a passport or ID). Therefore, the refusal to provide a transcription not only has formal and evidentiary consequences, such as a lack of a Polish certificate of civil status, but it also creates important practical consequences for the interested parties. Until recently, this result was largely ignored by Polish courts and other authorities. However, a ground-breaking judgment was rendered by the Supreme Administrative Court on 10 October 2018, in which the Court ordered a transcription of the birth certificate of a child who identified a Polish citizen as the mother and another woman as the second parent. The author submits that the existing case law of the European Court of Human Rights suggests that the practice of refusing to transcribe the birth certificates of the children of homosexual couples violates the European Convention of Human Rights.