It is a crucial decision in France.

The Court of Cassation must say Wednesday, September 16 if a transgender woman, born a man, can be recognized as the mother of her daughter, born after her transition, without having to go through adoption.

This case is representative of several biological children of transgender parents.

In June, the General Counsel of the Court of Cassation spoke out in favor of this recognition.

Until now, justice has considered that only the mentions of "biological parent" or father could be recognized, but not that of mother.

At the heart of this case: the situation of Claire (first name changed), a 51-year-old transgender woman, born a man and having had a child after her transition, who is facing a legal vacuum.

In 2011, Claire was officially recognized as a woman on her marital status.

After this gender change, she had a daughter naturally with her wife Sophie in 2014, as at the time she had not yet been operated on and still had her male reproductive organs.

Since then, she has been asking to be recognized as the mother of her daughter, which has always been refused to her: as a parent, she was offered the status of father, or to adopt her own daughter as a second mother.

Status of "biological parent", a first

At the end of 2018, the Montpellier Court of Appeal finally granted him the status of "biological parent", in an unprecedented judgment.

A category which "does not exist in French law, it is either father or mother", explained Me Mathieu Stoclet, the lawyer who defended her before the Court of Cassation.

In her opinion delivered in June, the Advocate General of the High Judicial Court supported the same reasoning.

"The designation of the parent in the child's birth certificate (...) must take into account the reality of the civil status of each of the parents", she writes.

Claire "being of a female sex recognized by judgment (...) she must appear on the birth certificate of her daughter as a mother".

But the Advocate General suggested that the judges put an additional mention on the birth certificate, referring to his change of sex.

Claire's defense opposes it, in the name of respect for the right to privacy.

"Since 2011, the Republic recognizes that she is a woman, recognizing her as a mother is a story of consistency", for Me Stoclet.

With AFP

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