Trans parent not legally recognised as parent by Japanese court

[Lothor]

I'm trying to get my head around the logic of this ruling, and I can't. If I freeze my sperm, have surgery to become female (no, I'm not planning to!), then use that sperm to make a child and raise that child, then surely I'm legally the parent? The Japanese legal system disagrees.

Japanese trans woman denied status as parent of own child – reports

Tokyo high court rules that child born after woman’s legal gender change should not be recognised as her daughter

www.theguardian.com

 

[nice gaijin]

Behold, an immaculate conception!

Ahh this concept is infuriating, that you could be legally denied parenthood for your own biological children. I suppose part of this is if there's no recognition for same sex couples, it may not be possible to recognize two people of the same sex as co-parents, or there may have been no legal way to list the trans parent without violating how they identity. I don't know whether there's a legal distinction between parents and legal guardians.

This stuck out for me:

The woman appealed against that ruling, which said there was "currently nothing in Japanese law to recognise her parental rights".

Something that was once pointed out to me before about a legal case in the US that concluded with a real head-scratching decision, and could be the case here: The courts don't decide what is right or wrong, or what the law permits, they determine how the case fits into the law, and decisions like this may be acknowledging a shortcoming of the law that needs to be addressed by the people who shape those laws. This ruling is an invitation to appeal, and perhaps even an invitation to parliament to update the laws about what shapes a family can take.

 

[HanSolo]

I'm also confused, what was the details of their ruling, isn't a dna test enough to affirm parental rights? So then they just arbitrarily make it up as they go along regardless of biological reality? I.e. do they think they can call reality something else despite what the dna says?

 

[Majestic]

I think it must be a procedural (bureaucratic) thing, like Nice Gaijin says. For example, there is some law or some precedent that says a male must be registered as the father, and a female must be registered as the mother, and so when faced with two females as parents, the system breaks down. And since the judges don't/can't change the laws, they just take the default position of rejecting the application. Then they kick the whole problem back to the Diet, where all the old guys in power hope the issue will just go away.

 

[thomas]

Here's another case that should make it to the courts: JR Group's special couples' pass should read "special heterosexual couples' pass".

Liu, who is from Taiwan and teaches Chinese and gender issues at Sagami Women's University as a part-time lecturer, started living with a Japanese man, 52, in Aichi Prefecture last year. They received their partnership certificate from their municipality in April this year. They wanted to take advantage of JR Group's special couples' pass, which gives passengers access to the first-class cars on almost all JR lines. The pass is accessible to couples whose combined ages add up to at least 88. The JR website states purchasers "need to show formal documents to prove your age." Though they met the requirement, with their total age reaching 89, Liu was concerned about whether the package included gay couples. So, Liu contacted East Japan Railway Co. (JR East) through its website in mid-June. The service representative told him that the special rail pass only targets "couples made up of men and women." "You cannot use it," the person said.

JR East refused to sell gay couple special rail pass for spouses | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis