11.5 Children well-being regardless of their parents’ sexual orientation and marital status The EU should guarantee the well-being of all children residing in Europe, including those in same-sex families, regardless of their parents’ marital status votes Further information : A) Many LGBT people raise children whether alone or with their partners. They may
bring children from previous relationship or may have adopted children or ac-
quired legal custody over a child. They may also have accessed services for medi-
cally assisted reproduction.
B) However these families are not recognised as such in most EU countries and
therefore these children are often recognized as the children of only one of the parent they have biological relationship with.
C) On the one hand, according to Article 24 of the CFR “every child shall have the right to maintain on a regular basis a personal relationship and direct contact with both
his or her parents.” However not all national legislations grant full enjoyment of
this right to children of same-sex couples. It is true that Article 9 specifies that the right to found a family shall be guaranteed in accordance with the national laws
governing the exercise of these rights. However, the EU should not accept that na-
tional laws override its human rights principles and regulations, particularly when it relates to children and their wellbeing.
D) This becomes particularly overt in the case of children of same-sex couples who do enjoy legal protections in country A but move permanently or temporarily to country B which might not recognize both of his or her parents as such. This infringes
the freedom of movement directive 2004/48 which covers any family member including descendants.
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LGBT
V. The policy proposals