Family wants names of both mothers on child's birth certificate; province says change is needed

For Krysta Hartlen Côté and her family, a birth certificate is much more than a piece of paper.

She and her wife, Jackie, experienced the sort of happiness and joy expecting parents do as they anticipated the birth of their child, Frankie. Their experience was something much less positive when they learned Jackie's name could not be placed on Frankie's birth certificate.

"I think we're telling people that some families are better than others, some families deserve more rights than others, some families deserve higher status in our society than others," Krysta said in an interview on Tuesday.

The problem Krysta and Jackie encountered is related to the province's Vital Statistics Act.

In Nova Scotia, only two parents are permitted on the birth registration. When same-sex parents use assisted conception with an anonymous sperm donor, both parents can be listed on the birth registration.

But both same-sex parents' names cannot be included on the birth certificate when the donor is known.

In such cases, as the Hartlen Côté family experienced, the space where the second parent's name would go says "Not Stated."

Not long after they tried to register Frankie's birth using both their names as parents, Krysta said they received a call from the province's Vital Statistics office and were subjected to questions about how Frankie was conceived. It made them feel like they were being interrogated and treated like second-class citizens, said Krysta. In the end, Jackie's name was not able to be on the birth certificate despite the fact that they have an agreement with their donor saying he is not interested or acting in a parental role.

A spokesperson for Service Nova Scotia said the reason for the rule is because when a known sperm donor is involved, even if an agreement is reached between parties, that donor could later wish to pursue a paternity finding.

Liberal MLA Rafah DiCostanzo raised the issue during question period at Province House on Tuesday.

"It's discriminating against two mothers who are married," she told reporters.

DiCostanzo said she knows of other families who have gone through a similar experience. The MLA for Clayton Park West said the Office of Vital Statistics should not be making the types of calls the Hartlen Côté family received. The question of how a child is conceived should not be an issue, she said.

'We know this needs to change,' says minister

Service Nova Scotia Minister Colton LeBlanc said the issue was raised to him soon after becoming minister in 2021 and his department has been working since then on updates to the Vital Statistics Act that would address this and other outdated rules.

"We know this needs to change," he told reporters.

To date, LeBlanc's office has done 60 hours of consultation on potential changes to the Vital Statistics Act and more consultation is scheduled.

The minister said it is too soon to say when changes would be ready. The act needs to reflect modern family compositions, said LeBlanc.

"It's a broad piece of legislation and it impacts every single birth registered in our province," he said.

"We want to make sure that we're covering all bases and make sure that we're getting it right, but taking our time to consult and engage with communities by doing so."

NDP Leader Claudia Chender said that in many administrative areas of the law, it still seems as though "it's the 1950s."

"I think we're long since past people having to prove their mode of conception," she told reporters.

"I think, you know, if we say we're a family, we're a family. If we say we're parents, we're parents and the government needs to catch up on that quickly."

Hartlen Côté and her family have been waiting two and a half years — since Frankie was born — for change.

In the meantime, she is the only legally recognized parent, which means she has to fill out forms for Jackie to be able to pick up Frankie from daycare. It makes it difficult to get Frankie a passport. And it means when decisions need to be made about Frankie's medical care, only Krysta has a legally recognized voice unless both she and Jackie were to adopt Frankie.

"It's not just a piece of paper," Hartlen Côté said of Frankie's birth certificate.

"It's our whole entire life."

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