Equal rights is a good thing. But, sometimes, I feel as if it gets completely out of hand. There are certain rights that are indisputable and everyone should be treated equally in accordance with those rights. But, there are other things that everyone needs to accept that will never have an equality. And one of those things is parentage. A woman will never be a father, nor a man a mother.
That is not to say that they cannot be accorded certain privileges that they are now entitled to, in accordance with many of the equal rights laws that have come into effect. But, those laws need to be defined in better terms. For example, a lesbian should be given her maternity leave as appropriate. Her partner should be accorded similar parental rights as a father – that means paternity leave, not maternity leave. Similarly, when a gay couple adopt a baby, both may be able to get paternity rights. Why not maternity? Because, neither gave birth and neither can breastfeed. They should be treated the same way as a single father.
But, to allow both partners of a homosexual relationship to declare themselves as parents on a birth certificate is beyond belief. A birth certificate serves as a legal document, detailing the natural parentage of the child. In this day and age, when people have a lot of interest in discovering their lineage, it would be impossible for a child to discover his/her ancestors when this document only serves to further the rights of the parents. (How will the kids reconcile this when they learn about sex and procreation when they grow up?) The rights of the lesbian partner takes precedence to the rights of the sperm donor on the certificate. The partner can assume this right, even if she is not even in a civil relationship with the birth mother.
What next? Will homosexual males who ask a woman to be a surrogate mother then be able to have both their names on the birth certificate, excluding the birth mother? After all, if it’s to be equal rights, what’s good for the lesbians should be good for the gays.
