Samuel is Going Home: Sweet, Sweet Victory

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I have just received news that the Belgian government has capitulated to the mounting, world-wide publicity that they were facing over their two years of stonewalling Laurent Ghilain and Peter Meurrens, regarding their two-year-old son. As recently as Tuesday the Belgian Foreign Ministry said they would appeal a court ruling saying they had to give Samuel a passport.

Samuel is the biological son of Laurent Ghilain conceived with the help of a surrogate. For two years the Belgian government has refused to issue a passport for Samuel saying they have no regulations regarding the practice of surrogacy.

Foreign Minister Steven Vanacker said that the government will grant a passport  for Samuel in accordance with the court ruling on Tuesday. I am unable to see any explanation for why the Minister has changed his mind in such a short time. I truly suspect that it was the efforts of many, many people contacting the Belgian government in protest and spreading the word.

The heartbreaking callousness of bureaucracy.

We at the Moorfield Storey Institute have been involved in a situation that just breaks our hearts. The picture you see is Samuel Ghilain, a two year boy who literally has been sentenced to life in a loveless orphanage by callous bureaucrats, even though he has loving parents and a home waiting for him. We are trying to change this situation so Samuel can go home.

This story began when Laurent Ghilain, and his husband, Peter Meurrens decided they wanted a child. The couple, who are legally married, considered adoption but Belgian adoption laws, while saying it was possible, made it difficult. After some thought they decided on surrogacy.