Sarah Osborne, 48, and Helen Arnold, 48, had a baby through IVF in 2014, but Osborne had to go through the “painful and humiliating” process of officially adopting her child – including interviewing socialites officials for its suitability. as a parent and subject to criminal record checks. The couple registered the birth of their child at the Cambridge registry, but the registrar said that unless Osborne was the father, and she “obviously wasn’t”, then her name was not allowed on the birth certificate. They said, wrongly, “there could only be one” mother. It was a breach of the law which states that same-sex female couples who have a child through IVF – and who have consented to be treated as parents – must be listed on the child’s birth certificate. Osborne described the secretary’s attitude as “disrespectful, outrageous and frivolous” and said “I was made to feel foolish for asking or expecting to be named as a parent and undeserving of such official recognition, as if I were a random stranger. road”. Cambridgeshire County Council’s mistake was “a travesty”, the couple said, waiving their right to anonymity in the hope that others will not have to go through the same ordeal. They spoke after Mr Justice MacDonald handed down a judgment at London’s High Court which revoked the adoption order and invalidated the original birth certificate. “It gives me great pleasure today to make this order as what I know for your clients has been a very difficult number of years,” the judge said. “I’m sure it’s caused them a lot of distress and discomfort and upheaval and I hope that the court that made today’s order can give them some form of closure. It is extremely unfortunate that these events occurred.” The women broke down in tears as the judge announced his decision, with MacDonald wishing the family “the best for the future”. “For our child it was just incomprehensible that adoption was our only option and then to find out none of that was necessary was incomprehensible,” Arnold said. “The fact that our child has two moms already sets them apart, it already represents something that they have to learn to adapt to, explain and accept. Knowing they were ‘adopted’ was an extra layer of complexity and potentially very damaging to them.” They launched a high court legal challenge through Cambridge Family Law Practice (CFLP) to have the adoption of their child, who cannot be named for legal reasons, annulled. “We are delighted to have finally set aside this erroneous adoption order and look forward to being registered, as I always have been, as a parent to my child,” Osborne said. “At the same time, we are very angry and deeply disappointed that we have had to fight so hard to correct the failings of Cambridgeshire County Council and get the adoption order revoked. We should never have been in this situation in the first place.” A spokesman for Cambridge County Council said: “We recognize the impact this has had on the family and would welcome the opportunity to work with the General Register on a review to try to prevent any family or local authority from being in a similar situation again. .”
