There are 30 countries where same-sex marriage is widely and legally accepted, and now Switzerland is one of them! Nearly two-thirds of citizens there have agreed that full marriage and adoption rights should be extended to same-sex couples, and they should have the same options and legal protections as heterosexual couples. The rest of the countries in Western Europe had all recognized this kind of marriage already, and now Switzerland joins them in the legal acceptance of male-male, and female-female marriages.

The government of Switzerland was pleased with the results of the voting, saying that the general acceptance of same-sex marriage meant that legal inequalities of treatment would end. The change has no effect on male-female couples, who have the same legal rights and responsibilities they have always had.

As with any large change in the law, there were opponents. However, their arguments against same-sex marriage and adoption rights were not strong enough to sway the majority of citizens.

There has been a Civil Partnership Act in place in Switzerland since 2007, but it was not fully comprehensive and inclusive of the rights of same-sex couples. Now, their rights are identical to those of heterosexual couples with the ability to jointly adopt children and lesbian couples have access to procedures such as sperm donation.

Those who were opposed to this change mainly based their arguments on how it would affect children, but most citizens didn’t find this a problem.

International clients are integral to The Surrogacy Law Center and we pride ourselves on the level of service we are able to provide them. Our international services include providing translations of standard surrogacy and egg donor contracts, assisting with the process of obtaining apostilles of birth certificates and/or parentage orders, as necessary and working closely with attorneys retained by clients in their home countries to help ensure a seamless transition home. Learn more here!