A Family Fighting to be Together

Namibia’s High Court on Monday ruled against a gay couple battling to obtain travel documents for their twin daughters, born to a surrogate in South Africa, after authorities refused to do so on the basis the infants were not citizens. Namibian Phillip Luhl and his Mexican husband Guillermo Delgado had already been fighting for citizenship for their two-year-old son when the twins, born in March, were refused the documents required to enter Namibia. Namibian authorities say Luhl must prove a genetic link to the children. Luhl told Reuters that the couple would have to study the ruling before deciding on the next steps. “(It’s an) unexpected judgment and, on a personal level, quite a big blow to us,” he said, adding it was evidence of resistance at all levels in Namibia on progress towards equal rights. Monday’s ruling means the family will remain separated, with Luhl in South Africa with the twins and Delgado in Namibia with the couple’s son, while a judgment in their larger citizenship case is pending.

SOURCE: REUTERS