Attack on CoTs’ rights defeated in ECHR
In June 2026, the European Court of Human Rights rejected an attempt to require the state to record a trans-identified woman as a child’s “father” rather than “mother”, preserving the principle that legal birth records must accurately reflect biological parentage.
Challenge to Registration of Transgender Man as “Mother” Declared Inadmissible
Children of Transitioners was not involved in the case, but we are immensely grateful to award-winning KC Aidan O’Neill, who successfully defended the position before the Court. He has also previously acted for For Women Scotland.
The decision is consistent with the principle, recognised in international children’s-rights law, that children have an important interest in knowing their origins and, where possible, the identity of their parents. These questions matter not only to Children of Transitioners, but also to children born through surrogacy and other arrangements where adults may seek to alter, obscure or remove accurate information about biological parentage from official records.
For Children of Transitioners, this is not an abstract administrative issue. Our birth records are part of the factual record of who our mothers and fathers are. Attempts to rewrite that history can affect identity, family relationships and our own ability to understand the truth of our origins.
The ECHR decision also sits alongside earlier UK case law in which courts have recognised the potential harm caused when children are misled about the identity or status of their parents. Different Children of Transitioners have written about how these issues affect us personally, and why accurate documentation matters.
Previous ECHR material and background: