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Significant victory for Manitoba Parents - 7 couples who filed legal proceedings in the MBQB against the Manitoba government relating to its outdated Family Maintenance Act are celebrating a victory in their bid to be recognized as parents. #mblaw #mbpoli
This morning, the Court ordered (with the consent of both parties) that sections of the Family Maintenance Act violate the right to equality guaranteed by the #Charter and found the current definition of parent discriminates against #LGBTQ2S families.
By agreeing to the consent order, the Province acknowledged the provisions of the FMA that were being challenged discriminated against these families. The FMA hasn't been updated since 1987 and does not recognize non-biological parents who conceive through assisted reproduction.
This denies substantive equality to #LGBTQ2S parents who rely on reproductive technologies. Currently if a child is conceived through assisted reproduction and born in MB to a LGBTQ2S couple, one parent is legally recognized and the other is not.
The second parent must go through the time-consuming and costly process of adopting their own child, living with uncertainty and without legal rights until they get the necessary court order. These barriers are not in the best interest of children or families.
All children benefit from having certainty in their family relationships and from being parented by persons who have clear legal rights and obligations, regardless of how they were conceived. The need for legislative amendments to the Family Maintenance Act was long overdue.
PILC (of @LAManitoba) is proud to have partnered with family lawyers Robynne Kazina and Rhoni Mackenzie of @TM_Lawyers to represent the seven couples who challenged the act. This kind of partnership between PILC and the private bar represents the best of our Pro Bono Project.
The Province of Manitoba must now remedy the discrimination, most likely by amending the Family Maintenance Act so that any family who uses assisted reproduction has a meaningful and accessible pathway to legal recognition as parents.
New legislation will have far reaching benefits for all parents using assisted reproduction, not just the LGBTQ2S+ community - our clients are thrilled! 9/9
