Daily US Times: The US expands citizenship for children born abroad using assisted reproductive technology, in a move seen as a win for same-sex couples.
To be eligible before, children born abroad needed to be genetically related to the American parent.
The change is made following lawsuits from couples whose children were born using surrogates and other methods.
The new policy will affect hundreds of families living outside of the United States, experts estimate.
Announced on Thursday, The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) policy means babies of married couples where at least one parent is an American and one is related to the child, are eligible for citizenship in the US and family benefits.
Ur Jaddou, the director of USCIS said this new interpretation of the law is meant to ensure “fair access and support for all families and their loved ones”.
There are likely hundreds of couples will benifit by this decision, though the exact figure is not clear, according to the executive director of the LGBT advocacy group Immigration Equality
Aaron Morris said: “In denying that their children were citizens, they were also disrespecting the marriage of the parents. It was like a double injury to all these families.”
Jonathan Gregg and James Derek Mize were one of those families. Their daughter, Simone, was born in the United Kingdom using a surrogate in 2018.
While Mr Gregg and Mr Mize are both US citizens, Simone was denied citizenship because she was genetically related to only Mr Gregg – who the US government ruled had not physically been in the country long enough to pass on citizenship.
The US also didn’t recognise both fathers as Simone’s parents.
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