The lawyers set out through aminefield of local and international law to prove that the concept of family can take many forms.
Latin Lawyer spoke to lawyers from Chilean firm Albagli Zaliasnik about how they helped two mothers become one of the first couples in the country’s history to gain equal recognition as parents.
In 2021, the Albagli Zaliasnik team, which involved partner Eugenio Gormáz and associates Stephanie Cruz, Florencia Fuentealba, Aileen Gorodischer and Antonia Nudman, started helping the biological mother of two children and her partner receive recognition as a family unit under local law. At that time, Chilean law only allowed for civil unions between same-sexcouples – a legal status that lacks the parental and adoption rights that married partners enjoy.
However, the legislative landscape in Chile had changed dramatically by the time the country’s First Family Court laid downits ruling. In March last year, the Marriage Equality Act came into effect giving, among other things, same-sex families thesame protections previously only available to straight couples.
Months of pro bono work and a rejuvenated legal system led the court to order, just one month later, for the nonbiologicalmother’s name to be added to both her children’s birth certificates.
The four associates describe the case as a passion project and a victory for LGBTQ+ people in Chile.
Full article here Pro bono Redefining family – Latin Lawyer.
