This lesbian couple is suing the government because it won’t give their child citizenship
(Facebook/Stefania Zaccari)
A lesbian couple is suing the US government after it denied citizenship to their child.
US citizen Allison Blixt and her Italian wife Stefania Zaccari have given birth to two children in London.
Massimiliano, who Blixt gave birth to, has been granted US citizenship – but their other son, Lucas – who Zaccari birthed – has been rejected.
(Facebook/Allison Blixt)
When it comes to giving US citizenship at birth to children born abroad, the government’s rule is that “at least one biological parent must have been a U.S. citizen when the child was born.”
The US Department of State has not commented on the allegations, according to the BBC.
A similar lawsuit has also been filed by married gay couple Andrew – who has dual Canadian-American citizenship – and Israeli-born Elad.
(Facebook/Andrew Dvash-Banks)
The married fathers have twin boys, Aidan and Ethan, but only one has been granted US citizenship, despite Canadian authorities recognising both boys as the couple’s children.
Blixt and Zaccari are also named on both children’s birth certificates, and the law in Britain considers them to both be their sons’ parents, according to the lawsuit filed in Washington DC.
(Linkedin/Allison Blixt)
Lucas, who is two years old now, calls Blixt “mummy” like any other child would.
But Blixt was allegedly told that he could not be registered as her son because he was not her blood relative and because Zaccari – who conceived him with donor sperm – was not a US citizen.
The court filing adds that the US consulate denied Lucas citizenship because he was born “out of wedlock”.
Stock baby
But the lesbian couple’s lawyers have said that they were legally married in England before their sons were born.
According to the court filing, the US consulate also asked the women “a series of invasive and legally irrelevant questions about how their children were conceived and born”.
Gay people have been allowed to bring their foreign spouses to the US since 2013, but not their children, which has been called discriminatory.
Stock baby (Getty)
Blixt told the Washington Post that she has turned down an offer to become Lucas’s legal stepmother and take him to the US as an immigrant.
Aaron C. Morris, executive director of Immigration Equality and both couples’ attorney, condemned the US government’s treatment of the spouses.
“The State Department is refusing to acknowledge the citizenship of children whose parents are same-sex married couples,” he said.
Stock baby (Photo: Haveseen)
“This policy is not only illegal, it is unconstitutional.
“This action by the State Department disenfranchises children born to bi-national same-sex parents and places an undue burden on their families,” he continued.
