Co-maternity issue solved

On his first day in office as the Minister of Justice and Internal Affairs, Bjarni Kárason Petersen instructed the bishop to make a fundamental change to the church register.

The issue of what surname a child raised by two women may use was at the core of the dissolution of the previous government.

On 1 January 2022, changes were made to the law on parental custody, granting more rights to same-sex parents.

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However, same-sex parents were not put on an equal footing with heterosexual parents with regards to children’s surnames.

This issue was left untouched by former culture minister Jenis av Rana.

After Rana’s dismissal, this portfolio was transferred to former trade minister Magnus Rasmussen, who also did not manage to solve it before the early election was called.

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But after an order from the new minister, bishop Jógvan Fríðriksson has now included co-parents in the section of the church registry that deals with surnames.

“I am happy and relieved that we finally sorted this out,” says the bishop.

Read the Faroese version of this article here.

More Faroese News in English.