The stateless baby of a married LGBT+ couple should be issued with a birth certificate, a court in Bulgaria has ruled.
Authorities in Sofia had refused to acknowledge the marriage of the child’s two mothers, Kalina Ivanova from Bulgaria and Jane Jones from Gibraltar.
Bulgarian law currently states that any child born to a Bulgarian parent has Bulgarian citizenship, but the country does not recognise same-sex unions.
The baby — named Sara — was born in Spain in 2019 but was unable to obtain nationality because neither of her parents was Spanish. She was also unable to claim British citizenship because her mother from Gibraltar was not born in the UK itself.
But last year, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that Bulgaria had violated the girl’s fundamental rights.
“Member States must recognise the bond of filiation” between a newborn child and its two mothers and “respect … the freedom of movement and residence of citizens of the European Union”, EU judges said.
Municipal authorities in Sofia have now been ordered to issue the girl a birth certificate.
“Bulgaria cannot refuse to recognise that Sara is descended from both her parents on the grounds that the national legislation does not provide for the institution of same-sex marriage,” the Sofia court said.
The mothers’ lawyer Denitsa Lyubenova has hailed the decision as a landmark for the LGBT+ community.
“After years of tireless work we have won a step in the fight for equality,” she said in a statement.
The couple meanwhile said they were “extremely happy” that their baby would be finally able to leave Spain.
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