Dan Goldberg is set to return home to Jerusalem in the coming days with his newborn twins Itai and Liron. Goldberg, a gay man, has been fighting a legal battle with Israel’s authorities since the babies were born two months ago. Goldberg is represented by NIF grantee New Family: Organization for Family Rights.
Goldberg, 45 and his partner Arnon Angel, 44, decided two years ago that they wanted to build a family. Goldberg traveled to India and located a surrogate mother. But after the birth, Judge Philip Marcus of the Jerusalem Family Court refused to allow Goldberg to conduct the paternity test required by the Ministry of Interior before the twins could be allowed into Israel.
In refusing to allow Goldberg, together with several other gay fathers in similar circumstances, to perform paternity tests, Judge Philip Marcus made homophobic statements saying, “If it turns out that one of the people sitting here is a pedophile or a serial killer, these are things the state needs to check. A child needs to grow up with two parents, not only biologically, but also developmentally.”
New Family appealed Judge Marcus’ ruling to the Jerusalem District Court, which ordered that the paternity tests must be permitted. The test results proving Goldberg’s fatherhood arrived earlier this week and Goldberg and the infants are expected in Israel over the weekend.
New Family and LGBT organizations also ran a highly successful public campaign to raise awareness of Goldberg’s plight that attracted statements of support from public figures and MKs including Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. Goldberg’s story has been featured prominently in the Israeli media over the past few weeks.
Following other legal precedents won by the NIF family, the Ministry of Interior will be required to register both Goldberg and his partner Arnon Angel as parents of the children.
Source: nif.org
Dan Goldberg is set to return home to Jerusalem in the coming days with his newborn twins Itai and Liron
Dan Goldberg is set to return home to Jerusalem in the coming days with his newborn twins Itai and Liron. Goldberg, a gay man, has been fighting a legal battle with Israel’s authorities since the babies were born two months ago. Goldberg is represented by NIF grantee New Family: Organization for Family Rights.
Goldberg, 45 and his partner Arnon Angel, 44, decided two years ago that they wanted to build a family. Goldberg traveled to India and located a surrogate mother. But after the birth, Judge Philip Marcus of the Jerusalem Family Court refused to allow Goldberg to conduct the paternity test required by the Ministry of Interior before the twins could be allowed into Israel.
In refusing to allow Goldberg, together with several other gay fathers in similar circumstances, to perform paternity tests, Judge Philip Marcus made homophobic statements saying, “If it turns out that one of the people sitting here is a pedophile or a serial killer, these are things the state needs to check. A child needs to grow up with two parents, not only biologically, but also developmentally.”
New Family appealed Judge Marcus’ ruling to the Jerusalem District Court, which ordered that the paternity tests must be permitted. The test results proving Goldberg’s fatherhood arrived earlier this week and Goldberg and the infants are expected in Israel over the weekend.
New Family and LGBT organizations also ran a highly successful public campaign to raise awareness of Goldberg’s plight that attracted statements of support from public figures and MKs including Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. Goldberg’s story has been featured prominently in the Israeli media over the past few weeks.
Following other legal precedents won by the NIF family, the Ministry of Interior will be required to register both Goldberg and his partner Arnon Angel as parents of the children.
Source: nif.org
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