Lesbian couple win parental rights in Hong Kong ruling
HONG KONG, Sep 9: A Hong Kong judge ruled on Tuesday in favour of a lesbian couple seeking legal recognition as joint parents of their son, in a landmark case for LGBTQ+ rights in the city.
The couple, referred to as B and R, underwent reciprocal in vitro fertilisation (IVF) in South Africa in 2020 after getting married there. An egg from R was fertilised with donor sperm and implanted in B, who gave birth to the child in Hong Kong in 2021. Despite both women being involved in the process, only B was listed as the child’s mother on the birth certificate.
Judge Russell Coleman ruled that parts of Hong Kong’s Parent and Child Ordinance “significantly impede” the child from being able to represent R as his parent. He stated the law failed to strike a reasonable balance between societal interests and the individual rights of the people involved.
“The constitutional challenge is made good,” he wrote, though he stopped short of issuing an immediate directive, pending further arguments on what form legal relief should take.
The case marks a major step forward for LGBTQ+ families in Hong Kong, which does not legally recognise same-sex marriages but has seen incremental progress through the courts in recent years.
In a related 2023 ruling, Judge Queeny Au-Yeung declared that R could be recognised as the boy’s parent under common law, although she did not fall under the statutory definition of a parent. The couple are also recognised as parents under South African law.
While it’s unclear how many couples might benefit from this ruling, it sets a potential legal precedent for future parental recognition cases involving same-sex couples in Hong Kong.
Similar progress has been seen in parts of Europe. In 2021, the European Court of Justice ruled that EU nations must recognise same-sex parents acknowledged in another member state.
In May 2025, Italy’s Constitutional Court allowed two women to be listed as parents on a birth certificate despite tight national restrictions on IVF and surrogacy.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong lawmakers are debating a bill to allow overseas same-sex unions to be registered locally. If passed, the law would grant limited rights, though strong political opposition remains. (AP)
