Rowen Sullivan, with her mums A select committee has backed a bill which would allow a Lower Hutt woman to have both her mothers’ names on her birth certificate. The Government Administration Committee has recommended just minor technical changes to a proposed piece of legislation put forward by Labour MP Louisa Wall as a rare Private Bill, to remedy a sad situation which was revealed during the marriage equality debate. When one of Rowen Sullivan's mothers, Diane Sullivan, fell ill from terminal lung cancer, her other mother, Doreen Shields was not given the option to jointly adopt her, because Rowen was an IVF baby born before a 2005 law change. Shields become Rowen's guardian instead, and adopted her after Diane's death. The upshot is that only one of Sullivan's mothers is listed on her birth certificate, a situation Wall is helping her change. “I'm doing this to honour my mum and all the sacrifices she made to have me. I'm doing it to honour my parents’ 24-year long relationship. And I'm doing it to honour my family,” Rowen Sullivan has told GayNZ.com Daily News. The Bill will now go before the house for its second reading.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Tuesday, 21st January 2014 - 12:48pm