# Question about my son's rights as a dual citizen **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 9, 2012, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-my-sons-rights-as-a-dual-citizen/618282 "2012-04-09T17:31:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![reneenetrop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@reneenetrop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/reneenetrop)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-my-sons-rights-as-a-dual-citizen/618282/1 "2012-04-09T17:31:01Z")
Here’s the situation… I am a Canadian, my partner (we are in a same sex marriage) is in the process of immigrating from England and is in the final stages. We have a son who was concieved through artificial insemination. I am listed on his birth certificate as his mother, and my partner is listed as his other parent. Here in Canada this gives her all the same rights as any other parent, just as a father would have for a child. My question is, can she have him registered back in england when we travel? Is he entitled to dual citizenship as he would be if my partner was his father or if I was the one from the UK? I really need to find out who to ask about this stuff, because we want him to have the same rights as any child would if born of parents from different places. When we go there we want him to be an equal citizen…does anyone know, or know where I would find this out? ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-my-sons-rights-as-a-dual-citizen/618282/2 "2012-04-09T17:43:07Z")
[Here’s](http://www.voyage.gc.ca/publications/dual-citizenship_double-citoyennete-eng) a good place to start. > [@](#): > > If you want to know if you are a citizen of another country, or eligible to become one, you should contact officials of the country in question or that country’s embassy or consulate in Canada. You will need to provide key information, such as your place and date of birth, your parents’ citizenship, immigration details, and possibly further information about your parents, grandparents, and spouse. > > The list of foreign government offices in Canada can be found [on-line](http://www.international.gc.ca/protocol-protocole/reps.aspx?view=d) or by contacting the Enquiries Service of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada at 1-800-267-8376 or 613-944-4000. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-my-sons-rights-as-a-dual-citizen/618282/3 "2012-04-09T17:43:12Z")
I don’t have an answer (though I’m intrigued), but I bet that even if it’s not possible now, it will be eventually, probably before your son becomes an adult. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-my-sons-rights-as-a-dual-citizen/618282/4 "2012-04-09T17:55:28Z")
Google the passport rules for obtaining a Brtish Passort. They have a fairly comprehensive list of how you can qualify as a citizen. OTOH, I don’t recall it covers the situation you describe, as it is still rather unusual. The key qustion is whether the second name on the birth certificate is sufficient to confer citizenship. Does Britain recognize same-sex marriages? The rules, IIRC, said that parents had to be married and then one spouse’s natural-born citizenship was inherited; there were rules about adoption, but that obviously does not apply here. I assume with same-sex marriage these needs to be clarifyication about the default rules where the child of a marriage presumed to be the child of the parents - does that law still hold? ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-my-sons-rights-as-a-dual-citizen/618282/5 "2012-04-09T20:34:50Z")
OK, here’s my armchair lawyerin’. Of course, I am not a real lawyer/solicitor/barrister. The Civil Partnerships Act of 2004 said that legally recognized same-sex relationships in other countries are equivalent to civil partnerships in the UK. In particular, [Section 20](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Partnership_Act_2004#Schedule_20) specifically states that a same-sex marriage in Canada is recognized under UK law as a civil partnership. As I understand it, a civil partnership in the UK is completely equivalent to a marriage. If you look, in particular, at the [British Nationality Act of 1981](http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1981/61), all of the original references to “marriage” in the original act were amended to read “marriage or civil partnership” or words to that effect. (Note, though, that my making the above statement may just reflect the limits of my understanding.) This means that so long as your son satisfies [the requirements](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_nationality_law#British_Citizenship_by_descent) for a child born abroad to have UK citizenship, he should be OK. The caveat in this case is that things get complicated if your partner wasn’t born in the UK; see the link for details. As noted above, the Home Office would be who you would contact about this. You might also be able to get answers at your local UK consulate. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-my-sons-rights-as-a-dual-citizen/618282/6 "2012-04-09T20:50:37Z")
Some [information](http://www.alternativefamilylaw.co.uk/en/gay-lesbian/legal-paternity-sperm-donation.htm) that I found. I cannot vouch for its accuracy or completeness.