Judge: Gay couple's child was US citizen at birth in Canada
Source: Associated Press
Judge: Gay couples child was US citizen at birth in Canada
By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN
June 17, 2020
SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) A federal judge ruled Wednesday that the State Department must recognize that the daughter of a gay couple in Maryland has been a U.S. citizen since her birth in Canada via a surrogate last year.
U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang rejected the State Departments position that the child was born out of wedlock because one of her married parents is not her biological parent.
The girls parents, Roee Kiviti and Adiel Kiviti, sued after the State Department denied her application for a U.S. passport. The couple argued that their equal protection rights were violated by a State Department policy requiring that both parents be biologically related to a child in order to consider that the child was born in wedlock.
The judge ruled the child was a U.S. citizen at birth, born of married parents who were both U.S. citizens who had resided in the United States before her birth.
An attorney for the Kivitis said their suit is one of at least five cases to challenge how the State Department has applied its policy to same-sex parents.
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This undated photo provided by Immigration Equality shows Roee, left, and Adiel Kiviti, right, with their children newborn, Kessem and older brother Lev. A federal judge has ruled that the State Department must recognize that the daughter of the gay couple in Maryland has been a U.S. citizen since her birth in Canada via a surrogate last year. U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang's order on Wednesday, June 17, 2020 rejects the State Departments position that the child was born out of wedlock because one of her married parents is not her biological parent. (Courtesy of Adiel and Roee Kiviti/Immigration Equality via AP)