Dyson Ruth: Sullivan Birth Certificate Bill — Second ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeDyson Ruth: Sullivan Birth Certificate Bill — Second Reading[Sitting date: 19 February 2014. Volume:696;Page:16111. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon RUTH DYSON (Labour—Port Hills): It gives me a lot of pleasure to speak to the second reading of the Sullivan Birth Certificate Bill. I want to begin by paying a tribute to the sponsor of the bill my colleague Louisa Wall and saying that yet again she has brought issues to this House that have caused a lot of interest. We have had a lot of consideration of the bill at the Government Administration Committee and I am pleased it was referred to our select committee. It was a real privilege to be part of that process. I want to pay a tribute to our select committee’s members. Some of the issues were more complex than perhaps we had originally considered and both the select committee members and the officials deserve a note of tribute for the way they gave and received a lot of questions and a lot of answers. I think that really paid respect to the bill itself and the purpose of the bill.But more than to Louisa Wall the select committee members and the officials I want to pay tribute to the three women whom this bill is about: the late Diane Sullivan Doreen Shields and their daughterRowen Sullivan. This bill is really a bit of a love story. It is a story about the relationship that Diane and Doreen had and the fact that they raised their daughter together in a time when they were perhaps a little ahead of the societal recognition of what is not an unusual practice now—same-sex couples raising children together. So I want to pay a tribute first of all to Doreen and her love—and mother of her daughter—the late Diane and their daughterRowen.Doreen andRowen appeared before the select committee. I think that most of us would recognise that a bunch of MPs sitting in a room is not an easy process. We are a little bit intimidating. We do not try to be but I think we are. The formality of a select committee process can also be quite daunting for people to go through. And that is at a time when you are talking about something that is quite theoretical. You might be talking about a tax change or you might be talking about something that is really one step removed from your life. People find that process quite a scary prospect and often get quite rattled when they come before a select committee so to have people come to a select committee talking about the very essence of their relationships and lives and why they want us to make a law change took a lot of courage. I want to particularly acknowledge the courage and strength that Doreen andRowen showed towards each other but also acknowledge that that reinforced to the committee just how important this move was.Their story said it all for us actually. We understood that this was not a minor technical issue that this really talked about the recognition of society towards their relationship and I know that all members of the select committee were very moved by their presentation by the reality of their situation and by the fact that we had the opportunity to recognise the relationship of Diane and Doreen and their legitimate—in the law—parenting ofRowen. The deputy chair Chris Auchinvole made a comment in his contribution about the fact that we thought that once we had made this clear a birthcertificate would suffice for all purposes and that was one of the many challenges that the officials threw to us: that this proof of parenthood might have to be done through some other method at some time in the future. We decided that that was a nonsense actually. I am not saying that the advice was a nonsense; we thought that the requirement to do that would be a nonsense. So we have made it clear that this is it.Once Parliament sets the seal on this then Diane and Doreen areRowen’s legitimate parents for all purposes and neither they nor Parliament will ever have to go through this again. I think that it was probably important for us to have the debate but none of us could think of one single instance in our own lives when we had had to produce anything other than our birth certificate with our parents’ names on it in order to prove who our parents were. But anyway we have put it beyond doubt I trust and in the Committee stage I am sure we will make sure that that is the case.As I said I want to particularly recognise the love that Diane and Doreen andRowen have and had for each other and say that Parliament does not often get that sort of involvement in our debates. It is a responsibility that I am sure every member of this House will take very seriously as we go through the debate and go through the voting process. I want to quote a couple of things that Doreen said in terms of how she felt. She said it publicly so I am not breaching any privacy but it had a huge impact on me and I am sure it will on others. She talked about how she felt when—following the passing of her partner and her adoption ofRowen so thatRowen would not be left as a legal orphan and so that she had a legal living parent—she saw her partner’s nameRowen’s birth mother’s name taken from the birth certificate. She said that it was horrible. She said: “Given what Diane went through and how she struggled to be there forRowen it was just obscene quite honestly.” I do not think any of us can imagine how hard it would be to watch your partner’s name being taken from the birth certificate of your child their child in order for you to become their legitimate—legitimate in terms of the law—parent. That wrench must have been huge and it is so good to be able to put what I think is an injustice right through this process.Rowen who of course is the holder of this birth certificate and the centre of attention as far as the legal change is concerned said that actually it was not about her. She said: “It’s more about my parents—having me in the ’90s when gay people having children was very uncommon they showed a lot of bravery and courage. They chose to have me together and made many sacrifices to give me the best life possible. And I want that to be recognised legally. I had two parents and my birth certificate should show that.” It does not seem to be a very big ask. I think that it is something that every member of this House wants to support and I certainly hope that as the debate progresses that is where we get to in terms of the recognition in the law of the legitimate parents ofRowen.As I said earlier this came about only because of the death of Diane Sullivan. AsRowen’s birth mother when Diane Sullivan diedRowen was legally an orphan. She had no legitimate—in the law—living parent and that was not acceptable to her mother Doreen Shields. We all know that there can be circumstances where those legitimate relationships that are not upheld in the law can cause problems so having a legally recognised relation is really important in terms of your will in terms of other arrangements such as medical decisions. There are many circumstances in which having a legally recognised relation—mother in this case—is very important and it was for Doreen andRowen. But I actually think that it was important because that was the nature of their relationship and the law was behind the eight ball. So it was only because of that situation that this really unfortunate circumstance arose.We heard a lot of concerns at the select committee—not raised in any attempt to undermine this—about whether this would set a precedent whether it would provideunfairness to other people who may be in a situation where they did not know who their birth parent was and found out at a later stage and wanted them put on the birth certificate. We had all sorts of discussions and considerations around that. In the end we came back to what I think was the correct advice—and certainly was the leadership that Louisa Wall provided when she introduced this bill. This is a stand-alone situation designed specifically for this family. It does not set any precedents. Actually if it did I would be very happy for any family in a similar situation to have the same legal recognition but it is a circumstance that will not arise in the future because of subsequent law changes and I think that that is a very good thing. I enjoyed listening to the discussion around this. I enjoyed the submissions. I am delighted to be able to support this bill to progress an injustice and to recognise the love and the relationship of Diane and Doreen andRowen. Thank you.