U.S. revises policy that denied citizenship to children of gay couples
The United States has ended a policy that denied U.S. citizenship to some children born abroad to gay Americans.
The State Department announced Tuesday that children born outside the United States to married parents, at least one of whom is an American citizen, “will be U.S. citizens from birth if they have a genetic or gestational tie to at least one of their parents.” Previously, the department required children born abroad to have a biological tie to a U.S. citizen.
For example, under the previous policy, a child born in Mexico to an American woman and her Mexican wife could be denied U.S. citizenship if the child had no biological tie to the American, even if the two women were legally married in the U.S. before the child was born.
The State Department said its updated interpretation and application of the Immigration and Nationality Act “takes into account the realities of modern families” and advances in assisted reproductive technology, or ART.
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