Same -sex parents: fight for rights and recognition!

Same -sex parents: fight for rights and recognition!

Dornbirn, Österreich - Pregnancy should be a time full of anticipation for Melanie (37) and her wife (35), but instead of undisturbed preparation, they found that same -sex couples in Austria are still disadvantaged. Especially when applying for the so -called "papamonate", they experienced unpleasant surprises. The "papamonate" is a one -month, unpaid exemption for freshly baked fathers or second parents, which applies after the child was born. While heterosexual couples often uncomplicated confirmation, Melanie and her wife remained for a long time with their request until they finally learned from the Austrian Health Insurance Fund (ÖGK) that payment of the "family time bonus" was possible, reports Vol.at .

Melanie and her wife had already been confronted with numerous hurdles when they want to have children. In artificial fertilization, they had to bear all costs privately, while heterosexual couples receive government support in many cases. In addition, Melanie needed a notarial contract to undertake financially for the child - a requirement that heterosexual men would not affect. This unequal treatment throws a shadow on the already emotionally challenging process of parenthood, as it describes. According to the new legal regulations for the full compensation of parenting periods on duty -dependent claims since August 1, 2019, same -sex couples can also claim “papamonate” and other services, such as labor right-majoros.at reported. The regulation applies to births from September 1, 2019 and stipulates that these claims are entitled to parents regardless of gender as long as the requirements are observed.

Although the approval of the "papamonate" for Melanie is a ray of hope, the feeling of uncertainty and discrimination remains. "LGBTQI+topics are politically instrumentalized," she says, emphasizing that visibility and acceptance in society still remain far behind what is necessary. Your experiences and the ongoing struggle for equality show that despite legal progress, the path to complete equality is far from overcome and that one has to fight rights that are taken for others.