A Hong Kong judge ruled on Tuesday in favour of a lesbian couple’s parental recognition of their son born through reciprocal in vitro fertilisation in a landmark case. The couple, identified as B and R, underwent the medical procedure in South Africa in 2020 after getting married in the country. During the treatment, an egg was extracted from R and was fertilised with sperm from an anonymous male donor to create an embryo, which was then transferred to B’s womb. The boy was born in Hong Kong in 2021, but only B was listed as his mother on his birth certificate. Judge Russell Coleman’s ruling over the judicial challenge was a step forward for the LGBTQ+ movement in a city that does not endorse same-sex marriages. but is working toward a framework to recognise same-sex partnerships.
