A transgender man and his partner have petitioned the High Court of Justice after the state refused to register them as the fathers of their son, who was born in March.

One of the parents, Yonatan Marton Marom, was born a woman and underwent gender-reassignment surgery, but retained female sexual and reproductive organs. He was impregnated by the sperm of his partner, Daniel Mariuma Marom, and gave birth to their son seven months ago.

Yonatan previously underwent hormonal treatment and surgery to construct a male chest. Then, in October 2009, he changed his gender from female to male in the Population Registry. In 2014, Yonatan and Daniel were recognized by the National Insurance Institute (NII) as a common-law couple. They decided to have a child together by natural birth.

As a condition for their son’s release from hospital, Yonatan was required by the clerk at the Population, Immigration and Border Authority to register as the mother, although he explained that he is listed as a man in the Population Registry.

Daniel was not given the option of signing a paternity declaration, which is usually signed by partners who are not married to the birth mother.

Five days after the birth of their son, the couple went to the population authority in Ramat Gan, presented the necessary papers and asked to be registered as the parents. They were turned down.

A month later, Yonatan was summoned for an interview at the population authority (which is part of the Interior Ministry and oversees the Population Registry). He said it was a humiliating experience, with invasive and irrelevant questions. The couple suggested that Yonatan’s sex classification be changed to female for a day – so the computer could allow their registration as parents – and then be restored to male. This was how the only other similar case in Israel was handled five years ago.

They say they made the suggestion because they wanted a quick solution, stressing that the lack of registration seriously undermined their son’s rights. They asked for a written promise from the population authority that Yonatan would be re-registered as a male immediately afterward, without any additional procedure. The authority refused, explaining that Yonatan would need a new letter from the NII committee that recognizes gender reassignment. Yonatan refused.

A month ago, more than six months after their son’s birth, a nurse at their well-baby clinic said that, according to the computer records, their son’s registration had been arranged. They returned to the population authority, which said that, with Yonatan’s consent, his sex classification had been changed to female and he was now registered as the mother. The authority added that in order to change the registration back to male, Yonatan would have to report to the gender-reassignment panel and present a document stating that he reverted to being male after the birth. Daniel was not included in the birth certificate they received.

Their petition to the High Court of Justice, filed by lawyers Daniella Jacoby and Hagai Kalai, stated that, according to the Population Registry Law, when a baby is born from someone’s womb, the Population, Immigration and Border Authority must register the baby as the son, and must register the partner as the child’s father. According to the petition, had the parents been a man and woman, there would have been no problem. “There can be no argument that this is simple and clear discrimination against a transgender person simply because he is transgender.

“This situation, in which LGBT parents who are in exactly the same situation as heterosexual parents receive different and discriminatory treatment, is familiar in all the possible paths to parenthood in Israel,” the petitioners continued. They noted that LGBT people cannot use a surrogate or adopt children in Israel.

“After the birth, LGBT parents are marked as ‘suspect parents’ who have to confirm their fitness before administrative and judicial instances, by means of an expensive, complex and humiliating legal procedure” not required of heterosexual parents, the petition added.

“The feeling is one of contempt,” says Yonatan, “because we had to run after them, received no answer, sent one letter after another. And discovered that they changed the gender classification, even though we said we refused such a change.”

Daniel added: “As a father, I have been raising a child for seven months. I take care of him, am with him most of the day and night, and have no [legal] connection to him. In case of an emergency, I have no proof he’s my child. It’s a horrible feeling.”

According to the attorneys, “Instead of the Interior Minister adapting the procedures to the public’s needs, it forcibly changes the basic characteristics of those in need of its services – first and foremost gender identity – while trampling the basic right to autonomy, a family life and equality, and causing damage to the child. We regretfully turned to the court after all efforts to convince the Interior Ministry to act rationally failed.”

The population authority didn’t explain why it is demanding additional proof from Yonatan that he is male, though it already recognized the gender reassignment and registered it seven years ago. Nor did it explain why it won’t accept Daniel’s declaration of paternity, as in the case of unmarried heterosexual couples.