The Supreme Court recently recognized a transgender man, who had sex change surgery becoming a male, as the legal father of a child born to his wife through in-vitro fertilization using sperm provided by a third party.

The changes in society and the advancement of medical technology have resulted in problems relating to family life becoming even more complicated than ever.

Will this Legislation Bring Greater Happiness to People?

The current Civil Law stipulates that “a child conceived by a wife during marriage shall be presumed to be a child of her husband.” There is no legislation regarding issues of maternal identity, but there is judicial precedent wherein the woman who gave birth to a child is regarded as the mother of that infant.

However, in in vitro fertilization or in surrogacy — where sperm is donated by a third-party — a child can have both biological and nurturing parents. In the instance where both parties seek to stay involved in raising the child, in whom more importance should be placed is going to become a growing problem, not just legally, but emotionally and spiritually, affecting all parties.

In the former case, the birth registration does not indicate whether a child was conceived through donor insemination or biologically. When a married women, undergoes in-vitro fertilization it is recognized under civil law that “a child conceived by a wife during marriage shall be presumed to be the child of her husband.”

However, in the above mentioned case where the husband was born a woman and later changed her sexual orientation, she was not regarded as the father of the child when she became a male The couple filed a lawsuit seeking recognition for the transgender parent as the father.

Some people say that if the the law allows transgender individuals to change their birth gender and legally marry, it is wrong not to allow them to be considered the parent of children of that union despite how he or she is conceived. It would therefore seem that the civil code must be amended to secure the legal status of children.

On the other hand, some have criticized this saying that children will feel conflicted between their biological parents and nurturing parents if they become aware of the circumstances of their birth. It is similar to the conflicts often experienced by adoptive children. No matter how much we revise the law, this problem will not be completely resolved.

Religion Is Lagging Behind the Changes in Society and Medical Technology

It has been pointed out that revisions in the laws have not caught up with social changes and the advances in assisted reproductive technology. We would postulate that existing religions are currently not in any position to keep up with these progressive changes.

Existing religions cannot keep up with or provide a clear answer to issues of assisted reproductive technology or gender identity transformation. For instance, Pope Francis, leader of the Roman Catholic Church, has to date avoided saying anything clarifying the Churches position on same-sex marriage.

According to spiritual truth, humans have eternal life and go through repeated cycles of reincarnation. Before we are born into this world, we decide whether to incarnate as a man or woman. However, if a soul who had predominantly been born as a male is reborn into a female identity in this lifetime, that soul might experience a sense of incongruity. This discrepancy between the person’s body and soul is regarded as gender identity confusion. While the medical books and psychologists may call this a “disorder”, in truth it is gender confusion caused by spiritual disorientation from past lives.

There are cases where people are born into the opposite gender than desired. In most cases, however, from the point of view of life training, gender is chosen to accumulate life experience. If the new soul cannot accept his or her current situation, a sex change is an option, but before taking this step, in order to gain the intendeded life lessons, the person should delve into the spiritual background and possible reasons for incarnation into a certain sex and body in order to take spiritual responsibility and ownership of their actions.

Further, people are not born to their parents by accident, but make commitments to either of their parents before birth. In this sense, even if a child is born as a result of a reproductive treatment, with no blood relationship to his or her parents, they are still truly parent and child.

Therefore parents must learn to comprehend and value the spiritual bond they share with their children and provide them with the love and lessons intended for this life journey. In that manner, each can fulfill the lessons of the soul.

Even if children suffer from undeserved prejudice and lack of understanding, it is important to realize that they chose to be born to their parents to learn lessons from the circumstances of this challenge.

We ought to be tolerant of both the changes and the advancements of technology, while never compromising on the fact that we are spiritual beings.

In order to balance personal happiness and social progress, it is our duty to advance efforts to disseminate and teach the embodiment of these spiritual truths. In this recognition we experience the true self.