Bill introduced to allow children to legally have more than two parents

The VVD (People's Party for Freedom and Democracy) submitted a private member's bill on Wednesday that would allow a child to have a maximum of four parents, divided between a maximum of two households. However, multi-parenthood must be granted by a judge before the pregnancy.

According to Member of Parliament Ingrid Michon-Derkzen, this concerns situations in which two women have a child with a man, or two men have a child with a woman. Currently, two of those parents are officially the parents of the child.

According to the VVD, this causes problems in everyday life, for example, at school, in the hospital, or with inheritances. "With this bill, we will legally enshrine what has long been a reality in practice. Legislation lagged behind current practice. With this bill, we will rectify that," says Michon-Derkzen.

Only parents who enter into such a relationship after the law's passage can claim legal co-parenthood. It's not possible for people who already have one or more children in such a situation.

The House of Representatives has been discussing options for multi-parenthood since 2016, but no legislation has yet been passed. Former State Secretary Teun Struycken (NSC) advised against it, arguing it would be too expensive. According to him, there are approximately 150,000 such families in the Netherlands.

Possible support in the House of Representatives, depending on coalition negotiations

Citizens and institutions can now respond to the bill (online). It will then go to the Council of State, after which the House of Representatives can consider it.

The VVD is hoping for a majority in the House of Representatives. A majority of the current House of Representatives signed the rainbow ballot agreement, which included this plan. Whether the plan actually gains support depends on the coalition negotiations.