Lesbian couple can both be child’s mother, Israeli court rules

Both members of a lesbian couple who had a child together can be recognized as the child’s mother, an Israeli court ruled.

The egg of one of the women was fertilized with donated sperm and implanted in the second woman’s uterus. Only the woman who gave birth to the baby boy was allowed to register as his mother. The second woman was told to start adoption proceedings, Ynet reported.

Instead the woman sued for recognition as the boy’s mother. On Sunday she was granted her maternity rights by the Ramat Gan Family Court. The boy is now 5 years old.

Israel’s Health Ministry outlawed the transfer of eggs from one woman to another in 2011, according to Ynet.

Meanwhile, Likud Party activist Moshe Feiglin called off a planned meeting with a homosexual group within the party after some of his American supporters complained, The Jerusalem Post reported. Feiglin, who told the newspaper that he did not believe the group has legitimacy, especially not in the party, offered to meet with members of the group individually.

He had told the group’s leader that he would meet with them, the paper reported Sunday.