Following a gay couple’s claim that it was “homophobic” for a surrogate mother to want to visit her biological son, a London court has sided with the mother, restoring her visitation with the boy.
According to The Daily Mail, the woman carried a child for the men using her own egg and sperm from one of them. While she handed legal responsibility of the child over to the men at the child’s birth, she also signed a document that gave her visitation rights. The two men, however, began to block her from seeing her son. They said it would confuse him because he lived in a “motherless family” and there was “no vacancy ” for her “just because [he] has same-sex parents.”
They called her desire to see her biological son “homophobic” and accused her of seeking an “inappropriate relationship” with him.
On one occasion, when she arrived for a prearranged visit, the men threatened to call the police if she did not leave. She secretly recorded that tense conversation, which was heard by the judge, who said it was “rightly described as ‘horrendous.'”
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A child psychologist who testified in court said that the men were working towards “erasure of mother” which is not in the best interest of the boy, who is now four years old.
“Whilst many surrogacy arrangements work very successfully, this case provides a graphic illustration of the difficulties that can be encountered if the arrangement breaks down,” the judge said, noting that the boy has expressed interest in seeing his mother.
Children have a natural right to know their biological parents. Denying a child that right is the result of an adult-centric situation in which adults’ desires are being fulfilled while a child’s rights are being ignored.
As explained by parental rights expert Melissa Mochella, “Biological parents have a strictly non-transferable obligation to love their children themselves, an obligation that is weighty, given the unique closeness of the parent-child biological relationship and the importance of this benefit for the well-being of the child.”
The mother retains legal parentage and parental responsibility for the boy, according to reports.
