Advocacy for shared maternity leave for same-sex partners is encouraged by Hubig. - Employs shared maternity leave for female workers
## Stefanie Hubig's Proposals for Joint Motherhood in German Parentage Law: Current Status and Constitutional Challenges
### Background
In Germany, the traditional definition of legal motherhood has primarily been linked to childbirth, creating challenges for lesbian couples where only the birth mother is automatically recognised as a legal mother. The non-birth mother must undergo a costly and time-consuming adoption process to acquire legal parenthood.
### Stefanie Hubig’s Role and Proposals
Stefanie Hubig, the current Minister of Justice in Berlin, has been a key advocate for reforms aimed at enabling joint motherhood recognition for women couples. Her proposals focus on automatic recognition of both women in a lesbian couple as legal mothers from the child's birth, eliminating the need for second-parent adoption for the non-birth mother, and aligning German law more closely with evolving family structures and anti-discrimination principles.
### Current Legal Status in Germany
As of 2025, German law only allows the birth mother to be recognised automatically as a legal mother. The second woman in a lesbian couple can obtain legal parenthood only through adoption (co-mother adoption). Despite legislative attempts to reform this, full joint motherhood recognition has not yet been achieved.
### Constitutional Challenges
1. **Equality and Non-Discrimination** - Proposals for joint motherhood are grounded in ensuring equal treatment of same-sex couples, fulfilling constitutional mandates under Article 3 of the German Basic Law (Grundgesetz), which guarantees equality before the law and prohibits discrimination based on gender or sexual orientation. - Critics argue that changing parentage definitions could disrupt traditional family law structures, but constitutional courts have increasingly favored inclusive family concepts.
2. **Child Welfare Considerations** - The constitutional principle of the child's best interests is paramount. - Recognising both mothers automatically supports the child’s security and family unity. - Opponents have raised concerns about the impact on the legal clarity of parentage, but such arguments have weakened in light of evolving social realities.
3. **Legal Certainty vs. Social Progress** - Some constitutional debates focus on balancing established legal principles with the need to adapt to contemporary family forms. - The Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht) has previously ruled on related matters, often emphasizing the protection of family life and child welfare over rigid formalism.
### Outlook and Future Developments
Momentum is growing for legislative reform aligned with Hubig’s proposals. Ongoing court rulings are likely to influence parliamentary action. Germany may follow other European countries in fully enshrining joint motherhood rights. Stakeholders, including advocacy groups and family law experts, support reforms enhancing legal security for diverse families.
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## Summary
Stefanie Hubig’s proposals advocate for the automatic joint motherhood recognition for women couples in German parentage law, aiming to modernize legal frameworks to reflect familial diversity and protect children's rights. While the current status still limits automatic motherhood to the birth mother, constitutional principles of equality and child welfare strongly support reform, which is gradually gaining legal and political traction despite some challenges.
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Regarding additional information, the "responsibility community," a project initiated by former Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP), was considered dispensable by current Minister Stefanie Hubig. The focus of Hubig's efforts remains on reforms related to co-motherhood and family law. The coalition agreement of CDU, CSU, and SPD does not foresee any changes in parentage law in this regard. Several German courts consider the current parentage law to be unconstitutional in this point.
- Despite Germany's traditional definition of legal motherhood primarily linked to childbirth, Stefanie Hubig, the Minister of Justice in Berlin, presents proposals to align German law more closely with evolving family structures and anti-discrimination principles.
- These proposals aim to automatically recognize both women in a lesbian couple as legal mothers from the child's birth, eliminating the need for second-parent adoption for the non-birth mother.
- Such reforms are grounded in ensuring equal treatment of same-sex couples under Article 3 of the German Basic Law (Grundgesetz), which guarantees equality before the law and prohibits discrimination based on gender or sexual orientation.
- To maintain health-and-wellness and promote a lifestyle that fosters family-dynamics and relationships, it's crucial to provide legal certainty for diverse families, enabling them to pursue vocational training, science, and womens-health, all while upholding the child's best interests.
