Venezuela Legally Recognizes First Child with Two Mothers

The Venezuelan National Electoral Council (CNE) issued the country’s first birth certificate legally recognizing two Lesbian mothers as the parents of a child. 

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Los Angeles, January 31, 2017 (venezuelanalysis.com) – The National Electoral Council (CNE) issued the first Venezuelan birth certificate recognizing two Lesbian mothers as legal parents last week. This action is the result of a landmark Supreme Court (TSJ) case won by LGBTQ rights organization Venezuelan Equality Association involving two Venezuelan women, Migdelis Miranda and Giniveth Soto and their son.  

Regarding the issue, the CNE Registration Commission’s National Registry Office director, Azize Azán explained, “We are executing this sentence… which validates double maternal parentage for the first time in Venezuela.”

Rosa Elena Rondón, Miranda’s mother, received a copy of the her grandchild’s birth certificate from the CNE on her daughter’s behalf.

The move follows an historic TSJ decision this past December that ruled that children of same-sex married couples are entitled to the full rights and protections guaranteed by the country’s constitution. 

In the judicial body’s official statement, they ordered that the “registration [of the child] be with the last names of both mothers in the civil registry, with Venezuelan nationality.”

Soto and Miranda married in Argentina 2011 where they also gave birth to the child.  In the couple’s court documents, the TSJ acknowledged as of April 5, 2016 that Miranda gave birth to a child in vitro with Soto’s fertilized ovum.

Despite both mothers and their child enjoying full legal recognition in Argentina at the time, upon returning to Venezuela, Soto and Miranda could not register their child since same-sex marriage is not legally recognized and a Venezuelan child born to two women was not recognized under the nation’s civil code.

Their circumstances, not uncommon for most same-sex families, came to national attention after Soto was brutally murdered on December 13, 2014. Subsequently, her family proceeded to file for custody of their child and dispossessed Miranda of all the property she shared with her partner and child. As a result, Miranda returned to Argentina with their child where she was legally recognized as a legitimate parent.

Miranda lauded the TSJ’s decision in December as a monumental step forward for the entire nation and same-sex families across Venezuela.

This latest news in defense of LGBTQ rights comes after another victory for the sex and gender diversity community in Venezuela. Last year, the TSJ declared article 44 of Venezuela’s civil code unconstitutional which defines marriage as between a man and a woman. In recent declarations, Venezuela’s feminist movement has also called on the Bolivarian Revolution to deepen its commitment to the LGBTQ and especially transgender people to defend and protect fundamental human rights.