Singapore-allows-same-sex-fathers-adopt-their-surrogate-son

[Playtime]

https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/2178279/singapore-allows-same-sex-fathers-adopt-their-surrogate-son     Singapore allows two fathers to adopt their surrogate son in landmark ruling

 

• The two men are 45, of Chinese ethnicity, and are Singaporeans. The men have been in a relationship for 13 years, living together since 2003
• The process was treated as single-parent adoption and will confer to one of the men sole parental rights and responsibility for the child

 

PUBLISHED : Monday, 17 December, 2018, 12:16pm

UPDATED : Monday, 17 December, 2018, 1:13pm

 

 

In a landmark decision, Singapore’s highest court has allowed a gay couple to adopt their son, who was conceived through surrogacy in the United States.

 

The case began in December 2014 when fathers “James” and “Shawn” applied for James – whose sperm was used for the assisted reproduction – to adopt their son, “Noel”, hoping to remove the stigma of illegitimacy. Their real names have not been disclosed.

James and Shawn, who heard the news at 10.25am through their lawyers, were elated. They had gone to work as usual, despite knowing the judgment would be released on Monday morning.

“It was business as usual because we didn’t want to get our hopes too high,” said James, who is a doctor.

Booming surrogacy business is a legal grey area

Shawn works in the marketing industry. Both men are 45, of Chinese ethnicity, and are Singaporeans. The men have been in a relationship for 13 years, living together since 2003.

James said the family was happy and relieved that the High Court allowed the adoption of Noel.

“The fight to raise our family in Singapore has been a long and difficult journey,” he said. “We hope that the adoption will increase the chances of our son to be able to stay in Singapore with his family. His grandparents and us really want Singapore to be the home of our family. Our family will celebrate this significant milestone.”

His grandparents and us really want Singapore to be the home of our family. Our family will celebrate this significant milestone

JAMES, FATHER

The process was treated as single-parent adoption and will confer to James sole parental rights and responsibility for the child. Both fathers hoped this will make it easier for Noel, now four years old, to acquire Singapore citizenship. The South China Morning Post in January reported on the family’s legal limbo. Noel had been rejected for citizenship and at the time the fathers applied for his adoption, Noel was on a dependent’s pass that has since been renewed every six months.

Last year, the couple had their bid rejected by the Family Justice Courts one day after Christmas, although District Judge Shobha Nair said Noel would be provided for, with or without an adoption order.

The couple then appealed the decision in the High Court, and in a 145-page judgment released on December 17, Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon ruled the adoption should go through. He wrote the adoption would be for the child’s welfare “essentially because it would increase the child’s prospects of acquiring Singapore citizenship and securing long-term residence in Singapore”.

The court considered Singapore’s public policy on same-sex families and its relation to this case as well as any policy violation if an adoption order was made, but thought neither reason was “sufficiently powerful to enable us to ignore the statutory imperative to promote the welfare of the child and, indeed, to regard his welfare as first and paramount”, the chief justice wrote.

China looks at making surrogate motherhood legal

This is Singapore’s first legal acknowledgement of same-sex families.

James’s lawyer Ivan Cheong, partner at Eversheds Harry Elias, said the case was important because it showed how the Court would take in public policy considerations.

“In the current case, notwithstanding that the court found that there is a public policy in favour of parenthood within the marriage and a policy against the formation of same sex units, the court found that the welfare of the child would be significantly promoted if an adoption order was made,” Cheong said. “At the end of the day, it is about what is in the child’s best interests.”

Surrogacy in Hong Kong: all you need to know about the risks and legal ramifications

The case has also provided clarity on surrogacy issues in Singapore, he said. The court found there was no public policy against planned or deliberate parenthood by singles through the use of assisted reproductive technology or surrogacy.

Koh Tien Hua, partner at Evernsheds Harry Elias, who was also James’s lawyer, said this was the first time surrogacy and gay adoption was canvassed in court. The outcome showed that “family is important no matter the orientation of the parent and family is the cradle of society”.

 

 

 

===========================================

 

 

never expected this, sure to be a shit storm in the usual religious circles soon. but dont see how the courts can throw the kid out.

Edited December 17, 2018 by Playtime

[Playtime]

https://singaporelegaladvice.com/law-articles/having-an-illegitimate-child-singapore/

 

 

7 Brutal Truths About Having an Illegitimate Child in Singapore

Last updated on April 30, 2018

 

Approximately 10,000 children have been born out of wedlock in Singapore from 2006 to 2016. It is no secret that Singapore labels such children as “illegitimate”. As a result of this label, these children are distinguished by both government policy and laws.

1.  A Child Born out of Wedlock is Labelled “Illegitimate” Under Singapore Law Why does Singapore label children as legitimate/illegitimate?

The Ministry of Social and Family Development has stated that the legal and policy distinctions between legitimate and illegitimate children are meant to reflect the government’s desire to promote strong marriages.

“Parenthood within marriage” is encouraged as this is the prevailing social norm, which Singapore authorities view as the key to strong families. This “illegitimate” label has some consequences for both you and your illegitimate child.

2. An Illegitimate Child is Excluded From Benefits Otherwise Granted to a Legitimate Child What are the benefits my illegitimate child is excluded from?

If your child is illegitimate, you do not receive the following benefits due to the government’s stand:

Benefits Exempted Description Housing benefits In accordance with the HDB Public Scheme, you will not be able to form a family nucleus with your illegitimate child for the purposes of purchasing a HDB flat in Singapore. This is even if the unwed parent adopts his/her child. The only other available options are to qualify for the Singles Scheme, which allows Singaporeans who are aged 35 and above to purchase a HDB flat, or to appeal to the HDB to allow unwed parents under age 35 to purchase a flat. Although, out of the 300 appeals from years 2014 to 2016, only one fifth were approved. Baby Bonus Your illegitimate child is not eligible for the Child Development Co-Savings (Baby Bonus) Scheme which includes the Baby Bonus cash gift and the dollar-for-dollar matching of savings for the child Tax relief Unwed mothers do not enjoy the same tax reliefs as married mothers who are adequately provided in respect of children born within marriage. These include the Parenthood Tax Rebate, Qualifying Child Relief, Handicapped Child Relief, Working Mother’s Child Relief, and Grandparent Caregiver Relief. What are the benefits my illegitimate child is granted then?

Notwithstanding the above, there are benefits provided to illegitimate children as well.

Benefits Granted Description Child Development Account (“CDA”)  If your child is born from 1 September 2016 onwards, he or she is eligible for CDA benefits. All children born from 24 March 2016 onwards will also receive $3,000 upfront under the First Step Grant. (Note that this differs from the Child Development Co-Savings Scheme as mentioned above.) Government-paid maternity leave If your child is a citizen of Singapore and is born or with estimated delivery date on or after 1 January 2017, you will be granted 16 weeks of maternity leave. Otherwise, the unwed mother will be granted 12 weeks of maternity leave. Medisave grant and Medishield coverage for newborns All newborns will receive a Medisave grant ranging from $3,000 to $4,000 depending on the date of birth of the child, provided they are a Singapore citizen. They will also be automatically covered by Medishield Life from birth, including those with congenital and neonatal conditions, for life. Centre-based infant care and childcare subsidies Provided that your infant or child is a Singapore citizen and is enrolled in a child care centre licensed by the Early Childhood Development Agency (“ECDA”), infant care and childcare subsidies are available according to a tiered-scheme. Child care leave If you are a working mother, you will be eligible for child care leave before your child turns 7 years of age. Extended child care leave is also available when your child is 7 to 12 years of age. Education subsidies Your child may be eligible for financial assistance for education, provided he or she is from a lower income background or has development or special needs. Kindergarten Financial Assistance Scheme (“KiFAS”) Your child may enroll in KiFAS provided they are a Singapore citizen, is enrolled in selected kindergartens, and fall within the income bracket. Foreign domestic worker levy concession If your child is a Singapore citizen under 16 years of age and lives at the same registered address as you, the concessionary levy rate of $60 per month applies automatically from the 1st of the following month after the child’s birth. 3. You Might Face a Situation where the Other Parent Refuses to Support Your Illegitimate Child Can the other parent decline to provide maintenance to my illegitimate child?

Under section 68 of the Women’s Charter, a child has the right to be maintained by his or her parents regardless of his or her legitimacy status. This means that both the father and the mother have the duty to provide shelter, clothing, food, and education to their illegitimate child, taking into account their means.

In the event that you find yourself as a single parent or non-parent maintaining the illegitimate child without support from the other biological parent(s), you may apply to the Family Justice Courts for child maintenance from him or her.

To assess whether the parent is fulfilling his or her duty to maintain the illegitimate child, the court will take into account the means of the parent. However, keep in mind that the financial burden should be borne equally among both parents.

4. Priority of Inheritance goes to the Surviving Legitimate Children Will my illegitimate child receive a share of my inheritance?

The Intestate Succession Act defines “child” as a legitimate child and includes any child who is legally adopted. This is likely to mean that illegitimate children are not entitled to receive a share of his or her biological parent’s inheritance unless there is a will.

Pursuant to section 10 of the Legitimacy Act, an illegitimate child will receive a share of his or her biological mother’s inheritance upon her death only if the biological mother does not have any surviving legitimate children.

In light of the inheritance laws in place, it is advisable for parents of an illegitimate child to write a will. Otherwise, you may consider legitimising the child by marrying the other biological parent which will allow the child to receive his or her share of the property under section 5 of the Legitimacy Act.

5. Naming Rights are Restricted with Respect to Your Illegitimate Child Do I have the right to change my child’s surname?

Under section 10 of the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, your child will take the surname of the biological mother if the father is not an informant of the child.

In the event that you are getting married to a man who is not the biological father, you may not change the child’s surname in the Birth Certificate to a third party’s surname if the child is under one year old.

6. Legitimising Your Child Might be the Only Option How can I legitimise my child?

Under the Adoption of Children Act, it is possible to remove the label of illegitimacy by adopting your biological child. The child will then be a legitimate child as if born in marriage. While this grants your child legitimacy, in practice it does not entitle you to housing benefits and Baby Bonus cash grants, which are tied to the parent’s marital status.

In addition, note that this will terminate the rights and responsibilities of the other parent. For example, the other parent will no longer be able to claim against the adopted child under the Maintenance of Parents Act.

However, this means of legitimising your child is unlikely to work for LGBT couples. Men may only apply as individuals to adopt male children, unless special circumstances warrant the adoption of a female child.

Alternatively, an illegitimate child may also gain legitimacy if his or her biological parents subsequently married under section 3 of the Legitimacy Act. Again, this option is not available for LGBT couples under Singapore.

7. Children Born out of Surrogacy are also Illegitimate Children If my child is born abroad out of surrogacy, is he or she considered illegitimate?

With tremendous advancements in technology, surrogacy is increasingly becoming an accessible means for an infertile or gay couple to have a child. However, the status of surrogacy is presently unclear in Singapore.

While it is not legalized or condoned, it is also not criminalized. Nevertheless, under Singapore’s law, a child born out of surrogacy is not considered the child of the biological parents.

The biological parent will encounter difficulties to legitimatise the child born out of commercial surrogacy by adoption. This is irrespective of the marital status or the sexuality of the adopting party.

In a recent case, a gay father’s application to adopt his biological child born in the United States out of commercial surrogacy was denied because the Adoption Act aims to prevent the transactional nature present in commercial surrogacy. This means that the child born out of commercial surrogacy is likely to remain illegitimate in the eyes of the law.

—

If you require more support, you may approach a Social Service Office for financial assistance or Family Service Centre for socio-emotional support.

[Kusje]

Misleading headline.... details vastly different.

 

 

 

• The process was treated as single-parent adoption and will confer to one of the men sole parental rights and responsibility for the child

 

[Playtime]

Misleading headline.... details vastly different.

Noticed that.

But really doubt it would make much difference to perception

[Kopites]

https://www.cicnews.com/2020/07/canada-changes-definition-of-parent-for-the-21st-century-0715052.html/amp

 

Canada.

[Beregond]

It will be very hard on the kid

[Porker]

@Turboflat4 and myself have already adopted a bastid son a long time ago. His name is @RadX

Edited July 17, 2020 by Porker

[1fast1]

5 minutes ago, Porker said:

@Turboflat4 and myself have already adopted a bastid son a long time ago. His name is @RadX

If custody battle, please take him hor. No fight. 😂

[RadX]

11 minutes ago, Porker said:

@Turboflat4 and myself have already adopted a bastid son a long time ago. His name is @RadX

so you the bitch ah🤣

[Porker]

3 minutes ago, RadX said:

so you the bitch ah🤣

Been a long time since we fxxk around like that right? 😀

[RadX]

2 minutes ago, Porker said:

Been a long time since we fxxk around like that right? 😀

chase round bed ai mai?

 

[RadX]

On 12/17/2018 at 2:42 PM, Playtime said:

https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/2178279/singapore-allows-same-sex-fathers-adopt-their-surrogate-son     Singapore allows two fathers to adopt their surrogate son in landmark ruling

 

• The two men are 45, of Chinese ethnicity, and are Singaporeans. The men have been in a relationship for 13 years, living together since 2003
• The process was treated as single-parent adoption and will confer to one of the men sole parental rights and responsibility for the child

 

PUBLISHED : Monday, 17 December, 2018, 12:16pm

UPDATED : Monday, 17 December, 2018, 1:13pm

 

 

In a landmark decision, Singapore’s highest court has allowed a gay couple to adopt their son, who was conceived through surrogacy in the United States.

 

The case began in December 2014 when fathers “James” and “Shawn” applied for James – whose sperm was used for the assisted reproduction – to adopt their son, “Noel”, hoping to remove the stigma of illegitimacy. Their real names have not been disclosed.

James and Shawn, who heard the news at 10.25am through their lawyers, were elated. They had gone to work as usual, despite knowing the judgment would be released on Monday morning.

“It was business as usual because we didn’t want to get our hopes too high,” said James, who is a doctor.

Booming surrogacy business is a legal grey area

Shawn works in the marketing industry. Both men are 45, of Chinese ethnicity, and are Singaporeans. The men have been in a relationship for 13 years, living together since 2003.

James said the family was happy and relieved that the High Court allowed the adoption of Noel.

“The fight to raise our family in Singapore has been a long and difficult journey,” he said. “We hope that the adoption will increase the chances of our son to be able to stay in Singapore with his family. His grandparents and us really want Singapore to be the home of our family. Our family will celebrate this significant milestone.”

His grandparents and us really want Singapore to be the home of our family. Our family will celebrate this significant milestone

JAMES, FATHER

The process was treated as single-parent adoption and will confer to James sole parental rights and responsibility for the child. Both fathers hoped this will make it easier for Noel, now four years old, to acquire Singapore citizenship. The South China Morning Post in January reported on the family’s legal limbo. Noel had been rejected for citizenship and at the time the fathers applied for his adoption, Noel was on a dependent’s pass that has since been renewed every six months.

Last year, the couple had their bid rejected by the Family Justice Courts one day after Christmas, although District Judge Shobha Nair said Noel would be provided for, with or without an adoption order.

The couple then appealed the decision in the High Court, and in a 145-page judgment released on December 17, Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon ruled the adoption should go through. He wrote the adoption would be for the child’s welfare “essentially because it would increase the child’s prospects of acquiring Singapore citizenship and securing long-term residence in Singapore”.

The court considered Singapore’s public policy on same-sex families and its relation to this case as well as any policy violation if an adoption order was made, but thought neither reason was “sufficiently powerful to enable us to ignore the statutory imperative to promote the welfare of the child and, indeed, to regard his welfare as first and paramount”, the chief justice wrote.

China looks at making surrogate motherhood legal

This is Singapore’s first legal acknowledgement of same-sex families.

James’s lawyer Ivan Cheong, partner at Eversheds Harry Elias, said the case was important because it showed how the Court would take in public policy considerations.

“In the current case, notwithstanding that the court found that there is a public policy in favour of parenthood within the marriage and a policy against the formation of same sex units, the court found that the welfare of the child would be significantly promoted if an adoption order was made,” Cheong said. “At the end of the day, it is about what is in the child’s best interests.”

Surrogacy in Hong Kong: all you need to know about the risks and legal ramifications

The case has also provided clarity on surrogacy issues in Singapore, he said. The court found there was no public policy against planned or deliberate parenthood by singles through the use of assisted reproductive technology or surrogacy.

Koh Tien Hua, partner at Evernsheds Harry Elias, who was also James’s lawyer, said this was the first time surrogacy and gay adoption was canvassed in court. The outcome showed that “family is important no matter the orientation of the parent and family is the cradle of society”.

 

 

 

===========================================

 

 

never expected this, sure to be a shit storm in the usual religious circles soon. but dont see how the courts can throw the kid out.

@Jamesc so now we know....

 

and we understnad your MIL issues thenceforth😂

[mersaylee]

15 minutes ago, RadX said:

chase round bed ai mai?

 

The thought of threesome with you guys chasing a few rounds in bed...

skipping lunch today liao...maybe dinner too

Edited July 17, 2020 by mersaylee

[Throttle2]

2 hours ago, Beregond said:

It will be very hard on the kid

Yup, to a large extent is my guess too

But we will only really know many years later

no fault of the child, so i wish him best

[Porker]

5 minutes ago, mersaylee said:

The thought of threesome with you guys chasing a few rounds in bed...

skipping lunch today liao...maybe dinner too

I'm definitely sexy and eye candy. Well those 2....

[mersaylee]

11 minutes ago, Porker said:

I'm definitely sexy and eye candy. Well those 2....

Candy sticks? 

[Beregond]

9 minutes ago, Throttle2 said:

Yup, to a large extent is my guess too

But we will only really know many years later

no fault of the child, so i wish him best

The child need go to school. He will have friend. He will have meet the teacher days. His birthday party. Etc etc.

I dun know, personally i think we are far from ready to accept this yet.

Maybe can work in some AM country

[Ysc3]

5 minutes ago, Beregond said:

The child need go to school. He will have friend. He will have meet the teacher days. His birthday party. Etc etc.

I dun know, personally i think we are far from ready to accept this yet.

Maybe can work in some AM country

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/mediacorp-apologises-portrayal-lgbtq-community-chinese-language-drama-series&ved=2ahUKEwi8ptaZsNPqAhWGbSsKHQFIBQkQxfQBMAF6BAgJEAg&usg=AOvVaw2Ym2mrJTVnRNZuyfZ0nYQ7