Tamara and Linda are both mums. But a Victorian birth certificate doesn't show it.

Tamara and Linda Arc-Dekker’s three children have two mothers. Simple, right?

Not according to the Victorian Registrar of Birth, Deaths and Marriages who have refused to label the same-sex couple as “mother” and “mother” on the birth certificate or their youngest child, who was born by one of the women with the help of donated sperm.

The Arc-Dekkers, from Portarlington, would also be happy with “parent” and “parent”, which would at least “reflect the lived reality” of their family life, according to the Herald Sun.

In May last year they were told the change was impossible under Victorian law and received a birth certificate for their four-year-old daughter listing Tamara as “mother” and Linda as “parent”.

A generic Victorian birth certificate lists "mother" and "father".

Tamara argued that this created "an artificial and discriminatory distinction between us as mothers of our children" when they applied to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) to have the decision reviewed.

She said it carried the "underlying message that a person can have only one 'real' mother," which was unfair for her kids as it breached their privacy and weakened their ties with their extended family on one side.

It also opened them up to "homophobia on a very personal level," she said.

At present, Victorian law allows other non-biological parents, such as adoptive parents, to be listed on the certificates as "mother" or "father".

VCAT Senior member Ian Proctor found that current Victorian laws can only refer to the birth mother as "mother" but conceded the Arc-Dekkers could both be listed as "parents".

While the couple said they don't want to create a blanket rule for other families, Victoria's Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby co-convener Sean Mulcahy told The Australian he believed legislative change was required so two mothers or two fathers could be properly recognised.

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