A couple from Maryland, US are suing the federal government after their daughter was denied US citizenship after being born to a surrogate in Canada
The State Department refused to recognise the daughter of Roee and Adiel Kiviti and so the couple have launched a federal lawsuit to tackle the decision.
The couple, who are both naturalised US citizens, were born in Israel, had their daughter, Kessem, via gestational surrogate in February using Adiel’s sperm and a donor egg.
The lawsuit says that the US State Department is discriminating against same-sex married couples and unlawfully treats their children as if they were born out of wedlock.
The couple’s lawyer said this was the fourth case of its type to challenge the current policy
The couple spoke to CBC news website about the case and said they felt their daughter’s ‘privacy had been invaded’ when they were asked questions by a consular about their daughter’s conception.
Roee said in an interview: “We are the only parents she has ever known. To have that questions by your own government is very unsettling, to say the least.”
The State Department told the couple that because her biological father, Adiel had not lived in the US the five years required to meet a provision under the Immigration and Nationality Act, Keseem could not be determined a US citizen.
The couple’s lawyers are arguing the five year requirement is not mean to be applied to the children of married US citizens.
The couple have a two-year-old son, Lev, who also lives with them in Chevy Chase, Maryland.
The State Department declined to comment on the case.
The pair married in 2013 and Roee became a US citizen on 2001, Adiel moved to the US in 2015 and became a US citizen in January 2019.
