Greek same-sex couples await landmark law

For as long as he can remember, 16-year-old Yannis Belia has had a “second mother” invisible in the eyes of Greek family law.

That’s about to change this week, when lawmakers approve a historic bill legalizing same-sex marriage and adoption.

“Until now, my second mother has been like a ghost in the eyes of the law. She didn’t appear anywhere, on any official document,” the teen told AFP at a gay bar in Athens.

“This law is going to change my life,” he said.

Yannis’ biological mother, Stella, underwent medically assisted reproduction to bear him and his twin brother Antonis.

But Stella’s partner Haris, who has shared her life for 12 years, was until now ineligible to act as the boys’ second parent.

It is one of many legal complications in the lives of the Belia boys, and others like them, that the new law aims to end.

When their children fall ill in Greece, non-biological parents currently have no right to decide what medical procedures are necessary for them.

Children also cannot inherit from their non-biological parents.

And if the biological parent dies, the state automatically takes the children away from their other parent.

“If my mother Stella were to die, I couldn’t be entrusted to my second mother. It’s a fear that’s always been in the back of my mind,” Yannis said.

If a child has two fathers, they cannot even be registered with the civil registry, where it is compulsory to enter the name of the mother nor can they be covered by Greek social security.

with AFP