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Gay news: New birth certificates have two 'parent' sections instead of 'mother' and 'father'
Baby's parents: A milestone
Lesbian couple are first to sign new birth certificate together
A lesbian couple have become the first same-sex parents in Britain to both be named on their child's birth certificate.
Natalie Woods, 38, and Elizabeth Knowles, 47, had a child using a registered sperm donor and became the first couple to take advantage of the 2008 Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act, which removes the words 'mother' and 'father' from the birth certificate and instead gives spaces for the names of two parents.
The couple's daughter, Lily-May Betty Woods, was born to Woods, who works for Brighton's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Switchboard.
The act, which came into effect in September, allows lesbian couples who have children through fertility treatment to register both their names on the birth certificate, conferring legal parenthood on a biological mother's female partner. Prior to this, only the birth mother could be named as a parent.
Before the act was passed, couples in Woods and Knowles' situation had to go to court for the non-biological parent to be recognised. Now, the non-biological parent is automatically recorded on the birth certificate unless they make a written objection.
Additionally, lesbians who have IVF treatment but are not in a civil partnership may now nominate their partner as the second parent on birth certificates.
The Daily Mail reports that after signing the register, Woods said: "It is fantastic. Compared to having to go through the courts this is really straightforward and the way it should be.
"We started forward on this journey together so it is fitting that we can both sign the register. It's also good that we don't have any of the worries and concerns of me being the only legal parent.
"It is quite a milestone, as the fact that same-sex parents can both be on the birth certificate shows that our kind of family is becoming more acceptable."
