Gina Milintanapa and Lee Battia are proud parents. Their oldest boy, Chene, 8, is a budding actor who regularly appears in television commercials. His 6-year-old brother, Charlie, is ranked number two in swimming for his age cohort in Thailand and recently recorded a time of 21.3 seconds for 25 meters. (Most adults, for comparison, would be happy with anything less than 20).
The two boys—adopted at birth in Thailand from separate biological mothers—are also learning piano and enjoy tearing up the soccer pitch. Little wonder the family home in Bangkok is festooned with many of the photographs of the boys that Milintanapa has amassed on her hard drives—three terabytes worth. “My mother says from now on she will only accept five-by-seven photos,” laughs Battia, 63, originally from Farmington Hills, Michigan. “There’s a lot of grandkids and great-grandkids and so she doesn’t have the wall space.”
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But this loving, tight-knit family is not a family at all in the eyes of the Thai government.
Milintanapa, 39, from Bangkok, is a trans woman. She has been with Battia for almost 20 years and the two were married in the U.S. in 2019. But their marriage is not recognized in Thailand, where the couple live and where people of the same sex cannot wed, nor trans people. It also means that she and Battia can only adopt their children as individuals, not as a couple. Officially, Chene is Battia’s adopted child alone. Charlie is Milintanapa’s.
The two boys have different last names and no legal relationship. In the unfortunate event of a tragedy befalling one of their parents, the other parent will not automatically assume custody of both children. This legal status creates complications for inheritance, medical care, schooling and insurance claims. It also means the family must travel with a…
Source : time
