“When parents are married at the time of the child’s birth, the amendment process to add a spouse’s name to a birth certificate, after original registration, is the same for all marriage types,” the settlement said.
Beth Littrell, counsel for Lambda Legal, said in a statement the settlement comes after nearly a year of legal action.
“This is a tremendous victory for the Weiss family — and for all North Carolina children born to same-sex couples before the state’s discriminatory marriage ban was struck down, who will now enjoy the same legal protections as everyone else,” she said.
Littrell said in an interview the state agreed to settle the case before it was brought to court.
“So right now, the birth certificate only lists one legal parent, and so what the settlement led to was an amended birth certificate that says the children were born to married parents and they have two legal parents,” she said.
The state also agreed to amend its policies to make sure other married same-sex couples in similar situations do not need to file a lawsuit to get amended birth certificates, Littrell said.
“Instead, they’ll be treated like all other married couples, regardless of the gender of the parents involved,” she said.
Kendra Gerlach, spokesperson for the N.C. DHHS, said in an email the settlement reflects the department’s efforts to update its processes for birth certificates to accurately reflect the many ways families are defined.
