Canada

'We Are Family by Every Definition': Gay Dads' Baby Denied Citizenship

Roee and Adiel Kiviti, a gay couple, are suing the State Department over its refusal to grant citizenship to their baby born via surrogacy in Canada

Roee and Adiel Kiviti, a same-sex couple from Maryland, are suing the State Department over its refusal to grant birthright citizenship to their infant daughter, Kessem, who was born via surrogacy in Canada, NBC News reports.

The fathers say their daughter is being denied the birthright citizenship she is entitled to as the child of American parents because her parents are a same-sex married couple. The Kiviti family join other same-sex couples in a string of lawsuits accusing the Trump administration of enforcing the Immigration and Nationality Act in a way that disenfranchises same-sex parents who use surrogacy abroad.

“Surprisingly, the officer wrote ‘surrogacy’ on our application, and since then, it’s been a chase of us trying to get a reply from the State Department,” Adiel Kiviti said in an appearance Friday on MSNBC's "Andrea Mitchell Reports."

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