Grounds of Discrimination naturalization of same-sex partners on an equal basis as partners of a different sex. The ability of same-sex parents to confer nationality to their children is often also limited, making the risk of statelessness most acute when parents have different nationalities or are living outside of the country in which they hold citizenship. Gaps in legal recognition of parenthood can lead to statelessness by preventing same-sex parents from conferring citizenship upon their children on an equal basis with heterosexual parents. When one or both parents is not biologically related to the child, as with children who are adopted or born via surrogacy or assisted reproductive technology (ART), government recognition of their legal relationship is often essential to reduce the risk of statelessness. Furthermore, surrogacy and adoption frequently take place in countries other than the country of residence, potentially implicating additional conflicts of laws that can result in children being born stateless. As these legal gaps become increasingly visible, some States have begun to change or clarify their laws in order to prevent statelessness. One example is Canada, where until recently the laws governing citizenship by descent for children born abroad was interpreted as requiring the child to have a biological Canadian parent.53 This requirement affected same-sex couples in mixed-nationality relationships by blocking them from passing on citizenship to their children when the relationship with the Canadian parent was legal but not biological, as is commonly the case with surrogacy or some forms of ART. Depending on the nationality laws of the non-Canadian parent’s home State, conflict of laws threatened to leave children stateless. To resolve this issue, the Canadian courts declared that the Citizenship Act must be interpreted as including legal as well as biological parenthood.54 Sex There are currently 25 countries with nationality laws which do not grant women equality with men in conferring nationality to their children. A significant number of these States are found in the Middle East and North Africa (twelve countries), while six States in Asia and the Pacific, six States in Sub-Saharan Africa and two States in the Americas discriminate on these grounds in their nationality laws. Sex discrimination in nationality laws can lead to statelessness, inter alia, in situations where mothers are unable to confer their nationality to their children and the children are unable to acquire the nationality of their fathers. This can occur, for instance, when the father is stateless, unknown, unable to fulfill administrative steps to confer nationality, or where the laws of the father’s country do not permit conferral of nationality in certain circumstances, for instance when the child is born abroad. UNHCR issues an annual background note on gender equality in nationality laws which relate to conferral of nationality to children.55 53 CBC News, Canada Makes it Easier for Same-Sex Couples to Obtain Citizenship for Children Born Abroad, 9 July 2020, available at: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/same-sex-couple-child-citizenship-1.5643675. 54 Caron v. Attorney General of Canada, Supreme Court of Canada, 2020 QCCS 2700; see also CIC News, Canada changes definition of “parent” for the 21st century, 16 July 2020, available at: https://www.cicnews.com/2020/07/canada-changesdefinition-of-parent-for-the-21st-century-0715052.html#gs.ds4ucy. 55 See UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Background Note on Gender Equality, Nationality Laws and Statelessness 2021, 5 March 2021, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/604257d34.html. 14 U N H C R > B AC KG R O U N D N OT E O N D I S C R I M I N AT I O N I N N AT I O N A L I T Y L AW S A N D S TAT E L E S S N E S S