A couple who are in an entirely platonic marriage and live in different homes have been appointed as the legal parents of a surrogate child.
The ruling at the most senior family court in England and Wales has deemed that romance is not a necessary part of deciding whether two adults can legally be deemed parents.
The court heard that the married couple have a “platonic and not romantic” relationship, as one of them is gay, which the other half knew when they got married.
Sir James Munby, president of the Family Division of the High Court, made the parental order after analysing the case at a family court hearing in London.
Platonic
Sir James said the couple’s relationship satisfied the requirements of legislation governing marriage and arrangements relating to surrogate children.
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“The applicants were indeed, and remain, married to each other,” he said in a ruling published on Tuesday. Their relationship is deep and of long standing.
“But, one of them is, as the other has always known, gay, and their relationship and marriage is thus, as Ms Fottrell puts it, platonic and not romantic.”
Sexual relationship not required
The judge said the nature of their relationship did not affect their ability to satisfy legal requirements.
He added: “There is, as Ms Fottrell has demonstrated, no ground upon which the marriage could be declared voidable, let alone void.
“There can be no question of the marriage being a sham. In short, the marriage is a marriage. The fact that it is platonic, and without a sexual component, is, as a matter of long-established law, neither here nor there and in truth no concern of the judges or of the State.”
Sir James said a sexual relationship was not necessary for a valid marriage.
“The applicants have different homes, with each of which the child is very familiar,” the judge said.
“When the child is not with both parents, the child’s time is split between them and their homes. The child does not live with anyone else.”
