A bill which will give a Rowen Sullivan both her mothers’ names on her birth certificate has passed. 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 result is that only one of Sullivan's mothers is listed on her birth certificate. The situation was revealed during the marriage equality campaign and drove Labour MP Louisa Wall to seek change with a rare Private Bill. The bill passed its third reading last night.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Thursday, 10th April 2014 - 7:45am