Marysia’s story: Marysia was born in Poland in 1998 to a Romanian Roma mother who abandoned her in the hospital shortly after giving birth. Since she was 2 years old, Marysia has been living with her foster family in Tarnobrzeg. Marysia’s birth certificate stated that she was born of a Romanian mother, even though no one could verify this information at the time. This made it impossible for Marysia to claim Polish nationality and her foster parents were not able to obtain Romanian identity documents for her either. They could not adopt her or give her their last name, with which they intended to make her life easier. They were told by various officials that it was better not to pursue this case as it might lead to Marysia’s expulsion to Romania. Growing up in Poland, Marysia was stateless for over 16 years. She attended a Polish school, spoke perfect Polish, felt Polish and had no ties to Romania whatsoever. Following the advice they had received, her foster parents did not try to regulate her situation until she was a bit older and started asking questions: “Why can’t I go on a summer camp abroad? Why can’t I visit my [foster] father [who temporarily worked in Germany and in Cyprus]?” She had no identity card and no passport. In 2009, Marysia’s foster parents began an administrative struggle for her citizenship. Their request was first denied by the Voivod which stated that Marysia could not receive a confirmation of Polish nationality, because her mother was Romanian. The family sought help from a legal NGO which set the procedure in motion. First, attempts to receive Romanian documents for Marysia via its Bucharest office were made, but the Romanian authorities refused to issue her identity documents. Ultimately, after a long struggle, Marysia received a Polish permanent residence permit which was a necessary step towards conferment of Polish citizenship. Finally, Marysia’s application for Polish citizenship was sent to the Polish President via a Voivod. She was conferred Polish nationality in August 2014. Marysia and her foster parents feel happy that she has finally received documents confirming her national belonging and that she no longer feels different than her peers in this regard. However, they resent the lack of support from the Polish authorities. They could not understand the attitude of civil servants: “They haven’t done a thing, nobody wanted to tell us what to do, how to fight it, where to go (…). Public offices should take care of the best interests of the child (…). Instead, for them a child is a piece of paper moved between the ‘pending’ and ‘resolved’ piles. When it comes to Marysia’s case, I am ashamed of this country’s law and officials who deal with such matters” – Marysia’s foster father says. Another case which the HFHR has been engaged with is that of a same-sex family, legally constituted abroad through surrogacy with one parent being a Polish national, who encountered problems when confirming the Polish nationality of their four children (born via surrogacy in the US) in a procedure before a Voivod. The couple are inscribed as parents in birth certificates of these children. The Voivod, instead of confirming Polish nationality of the children by applying the provision that a child acquires Polish citizenship (irrespective of the place of birth) when at least one parent is a Polish citizen, requested details of the children’s biological mother’s identity.111 The refusals of the Voivod to confirm Polish nationality were upheld by the Regional Administrative 111 Case files no. DOiR-I-6270-182/2015/AK; DOiR-I-6270-184/2015/AK; DOiR-I-6270-185/2015/AK; DOiR-I-6270-183/2015/AK (not published). UNHCR POLAND, SEPTEMBER 2019 43