Is Elton John’s Partner, David Furnish, Really A Mother?

[naomi24]

Germaine Greer has criticised Elton John for naming his husband David Furnish as the 'mother' on the birth certificates of their two sons.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-8739313/Germaine-Greer-slams-Elton-John-naming-husband-mother-sons-birth-certificates.html

David Furnish has hit back, telling her to mind her own business, but does she have a point? Does it make any sense at all to describe a man as a ‘mother’?

[Peter Pedant]

god another serious q
to get our teeth into
a few points come up - Jason Momoa looks like a muscular ( very muscular ) Tiny Tim - the singer who warbled froo "Tiptoe froo the Tulips" May 68 - god I was taking A levels

A father can never be a muvva - have we had this? yes they can if you tack fracker after it .... ter daah - yes I am taking this seriously

so a single parent can never liken the stress of bringing up a child on their own by saying - - I was both a muvva and a father at the same time.
Got it- AB in full flow
bofe parents - not muvva and father (*)

Times says Boris is nt up to it today in their Leader
(wha' as a muvva? some AB wag quips)

(*) the Mitford sisters used to refer to theirs as Farve
that wd be Lord Redesdale

[Barsel]

I do agree with you pixie, it should be accurate, but I'm willing to bet that there are a lot of certificates that are not. He's Elton John, he probably thinks he can do what the hell he wants.

[pixie374]

Yes, although there will be mistakes... and possibly lies, I guess... I don't think that necessarily makes it right or moral to do it deliberately. Out of every different view on this thread, it still doesn't seem that anyone genuinely believes he is the mother. So, who is benefiting?

[jackthehat]

No, he's not a mother.
In some European countries the birth certificate asks for the names of Parent 1 and Parent 2. I wonder if there is similar botheration in those furrin' parts which use this system?
I believe that prior to the IVF process the, ahem, samples from both Elton and David were mixed and so quite which of them is a biological father to each child is unknown (to the great unwashed) in any case.

[Ellipsis]

Greer's gripe should not be with Elton John and David Furnish, but with the UK government for allowing same-sex male couples to register a birth:

https://www.gov.uk/register-birth/who-can-register-a-birth

And she's not even British, she's Australian, so all told - what business is it of hers?

[pixie374]

Even that seems unnecessary, jth. We all know you can only (at present) get a baby from one male and one female. It isn't even debatable as far as I can see... so mother and father are just accurate terms. An adoption certificate may be different, but you are only going to get one of each sex on a birth certificate, because that's literally how it works... lol

[Barsel]

jackthehat that sounds like a really good idea to have the birth certificates say Parent 1 and Parent 2. Perhaps one day we might catch up with the European countries that do this.

[dannyk13]

Barsel, sorry, I missed your post at 12.43.

[Barsel]

danny, no need to apologise, there have been a lot of replies.

[naomi24]

Ellipsis, I assume the births of their children were registered in the US. Same sex couples may register a birth in this country but I don’t think that means that one may be named as ‘father’ and the other ‘mother’. I believe your link is simply a guide to the registration process.

[youngmafbog]

Surely the same problem exists to childless couples who use the same 'method' to get a child?

What do they do in those circumstances should be the same here because it should be the same for two women or two men.

[pixie374]

Ymb, only the mother needs to register, so she will know who she is. It isn't about same sex or donors or even equality. It's just giving the truth to a baby. It can't be that hard.

[jim360]

Must be registered in the US, as, in the UK, this would be, for the time being, unlawful, I think.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-52471697

I'd be more inclined to take Greer's complaint seriously if it hadn't then verged into the "all-male families are bad" territory, rather than stuck to "the function of a birth certificate is to record biological parentage, where possible". I suspect most people would understand if the surrogate/egg donor wished to retain their anonymity, so it's right that their names aren't on the certificate, and (probably) wholly wrong of Greer to be upset on their behalf.

[Ellipsis]

My point is that if it's possible for a same-sex male couple to put both of their names on a birth certificate, any problem with that should lie with the government that provides and accepts the certifcate - not with the couple that fills it in. Of course Elton John and David Furnish will put their names on the birth certificate if they're allowed to ...

[jim360]

As an aside, what is Greer going on about with the "women have destroyed our political system" line? Theresa May or may not have been incompetent, but I'd have thought most here would agree that that had nothing to do with her gender.

[Theland]

The whole transexuality thing is forever searching for new lows. This is just another one, defies common sense, calls wicked evil, and evil good. An upside down world.

[iluvmargie]

Of course he's not the mother!

[Ellipsis]

> The whole transexuality thing is forever searching for new lows. This is just another one, defies common sense, calls wicked evil, and evil good. An upside down world.

What transexuals are you on about?

[Mozz71]

//What transexuals are you on about?//

Knowing Theland, all of them. He wears his prejudices on his sleeve somewhat.

[Ken4155]

Ellipsis, he's talking about that world renowned transexual, Elton John. :-/