Baby's Birth Certificate Is a First of Its Kind Under British Columbia's New 'Family Law'

Amid an ongoing push to make family structures more fluid, a baby in Vancouver, Canada, is reportedly the first child in British Columbia to be granted three legal parents under a new law in the province that allows for up to four legal guardians.

The three individuals -- a lesbian couple and their male friend -- were able to become official parents to Della Wolf Kangro Wiley Richards without any litigation under the new Family Law Act that was passed last year, The National Post reported.

The development comes after Anna Richards and her wife Danielle Wiley decided they wanted to have a baby. But rather than raise the child without a father figure, the two felt that a male influence was important, so Richards asked her friend, Shawn Kangro, to consider being the child's father.

"We wanted our kids to know where they came from biologically and actually liked the idea of having an extended family," she told The National Post. "It didn’t threaten us to have another person’s involvement so long as it was the right person."

After Kangro consulted with family, he decided to enter into a legal agreement with Richards and Wiley and the three now share roles in Della's life. The two mothers serving as primary caregivers, with Kangro having a say in important decisions involving health and schooling.

"It feels really just natural and easy, like any other family," Kangro, the biological father, told Canada's CBC News. "It doesn't feel like anything is strange about it."

Wiley got pregnant in Jan. 2013 and delivered Della on Oct. 23, 2013.

Richards, Wiley and Kangro are mixing their three families together in an uncommon arrangement that is among the first of its kind in British Columbia.

"All of a sudden, all of Anna’s family and all of Danielle’s family is essentially my family," Kangro told The National Post. "We’re joining three families together through Della and possibly future children."

As CBC News explained, the Family Law Act went into effect in March 2013, changing the paradigm surrounding how the law views parents. Donors, too, can be counted as guardians, so long as a written agreement is reached before conception.

(H/T: National Post)

--

Featured image via CBC News