A trans man who was born as a woman lost his legal battle to be recognized as his child’s father, rather than the baby’s mother, on the child’s birth certificate.
34-year-old Freddy McConnell is an English journalist who reportedly lost his fight against what he believes to be a violation of his human rights after his appeal to be named as his child’s father was dismissed by the Supreme Court Justices.
The transgender man, whose pregnancy was documented in a 2019 documentary called Seahorse, got pregnant in 2017.
While McConnell was already legally recognized as a man before his pregnancy, he was able to get pregnant due to his decision to keep his womb. Therefore, the 34-year-old was officially a pregnant man until he gave birth in 2018.
Despite legally-speaking being a man at the time he gave birth to his child, McConnell was listed as his baby’s mother, whereas he was told by a registrar that people who give birth are by law required to be listed on their child’s birth certificate as their mothers.
As the 34-year-old insisted, this law breached his human rights and he wanted to be registered as the baby’s father because he is legally a man.
Following a lawsuit against the General Register Office, McConnell lost his case in September 2019 when a high court judge ruled against him.
In April this year, after appealing to have his case reviewed by the Supreme Court, McConnell’s request to be recognized as his child’s father was once again rejected. The Supreme Court’s decision not to consider the 34-year-old’s case means that his legal battle against the system in the country has come to an end.
“The legislative scheme of the Gender Recognition Act (GRA) required Mr McConnell to be registered as the mother of YY, rather than the father, parent or gestational parent,” Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett previously said.
“That requirement did not violate his or YY’s Article 8 rights (to private and family life, as enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights).
“There is no incompatibility between the GRA and the Convention. In the result we dismiss these appeals.”
In a bid to prove his human rights have been violated following two rounds of legal battle he had lost, McConnell vowed to take the matter to the European Court of Human Rights – ECHR, also known as the Strasbourg Court due to its position in the city of Strasbourg in France.
“The law around birth registration doesn’t treat LGBT people equally on any level. There needs to be a series of cases to address this or a change in the law. I feel I am too deep into this to stop now. I am going to keep fighting and I ask anyone who can contribute to this to reach out,” the 34-year-old said.
Replaced!