Federal Minister of Justice Stefanie Hubig (SPD) plans to amend the legal framework governing parental rights to ensure equal status for lesbian couples raising children. Speaking to the “Rheinische Post” (Saturday edition), she stated that children born into a partnership of two women should ideally have two legal parents from birth.
Under current law, the biological mother is automatically recognized. The partner, however, cannot be the mother at birth and must formally adopt the child in order to gain maternal rights. Hubig explained that this holds true even if the sperm donor decides not to become a legal father, or is unable to. She insisted that enabling children born in same-sex relationships to have two parents from the outset is achievable “without undermining the fundamental principles of parental rights.”
This push for greater legal recognition aligns with earlier calls for equality. Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) had previously voiced support for equating same-sex married couples with other couples regarding adoption rights, and the Bundesrat subsequently urged the government to end the discrimination faced by two-mother “rainbow families.”
However, Hubig drew a clear line between this matter and the rules regarding surrogacy. She rejected any potential changes to surrogacy regulations due to the requirements of the current coalition agreement with the Union. “A liberalization of surrogacy is taboo for the Union. I respect that. We will not change anything in that area,” she asserted. She stressed that the issue of how legally to handle children-especially those conceived via sperm donation within a two-woman partnership-requires a completely different approach, for which she advocates for cautious reform. The overall debate on surrogacy was significantly escalated by the case of former CDU faction leader Jens Spahn.
