Rainbow Family Rights in Europe – Part 2: Baby Sara, Stateless Child

In the second part of our podcast mini-series on rainbow family rights, during which we we’re looking at the issues affecting LGBTI partners, parents and their children across Europe.

We meet Kalina and Jane, from Bulgaria and the UK respectively. Because their daughter Sara was born in Gibraltar, she cannot claim UK citizenship via Jane, so the couple applied to have her registered in Bulgaria. The Bulgarian authorities refused, therefore leaving Baby Sara stateless.

Kalina and Jane brought a case against the Bulgarian authorities to the EU Court of Justice, which was heard in March 2021. They join us to talk about their current situation, the case, and what it means to their family. We’re also joined by Arpi Avetisyan, Head of Litigation at ILGA-Europe, to talk about the wider implications of the case.

See also

Press Release

European Court must rule in favour of a child at risk of statelessness and her family’s freedom of movement in the EU, say leading LGBTI rights organisations

Authorities in Bulgaria have not recognised the valid EU birth certificate of the child of a same-sex couple. On February 9, the Court of Justice of the European Union must clarify that if you are a parent in one EU country, you are a parent in every EU country.
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News

European Court rules in favour of the best interest of the child in same-sex custody case

The European Court of Human rights has ruled thatΒ the refusing a mother custody of her youngest child on the grounds of her sexual orientation to be discriminatory and a violation of her right to private and family life.
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Blog

How Baby Sara and her mums have pushed forward the rights of all rainbow families across the EU

When an EU country recognises a child and its same-sex parents as a family, all EU countries should recognise them as such, so to guarantee their freedom of movement. This is what the EU’s top court ruled in December. But how this case has advanced LGBTI rights in the European Union and what comes next for rainbow families?
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News

European Court will consider lack of implementation of EU law to enable freedom of movement for same-sex spouses

Almost three years after the European Court ruled that Romania must recognise a same-sex couple under EU freedom of movement legislation, its government is yet to implement the judgement.
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News

Opinion from European court: same-sex parented families should be officially recognised in all EU member states

Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the European Union’s opinion says that Bulgaria’s lack of recognition for same-sex parented families cannot justify a violation of EU freedom of movement law.
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Press Release

Top EU Court Recognises Relationship of Same-sex Parents and their Children Under EU Law

In a landmark judgement, the Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled that a child and its same-sex parents must be recognised as […]
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Report

LGBT families and the Free Movement Directive: Implementation Guidelines

These guidelines provide an introduction to the Directive on the right to free movement, an explanation of those provisions relevant to LGBT families, an overview […]
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Report

The Rights of Children Raised in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgender Families

A European Perspective This report documents the existing framework of legal protection of the rights of children in LGBT families at European level, analyses the […]
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