Both same-sex parents now listed on child's birth certificate

TEMPLE TERRACE (FOX 13) - It's a victory for one Temple Terrace couple who can finally enjoy a certain joy of parenthood.

The state has reached a settlement that will allow same-sex couples to put both their names on their child's birth certificate.

Hannah Smith and her partner were part of a lawsuit filed back in 2015, after state Health Department officials refused to include both parents' names on the document. The lawsuit came just months after same-sex marriages became legal in Florida.

Documents previously only asked for the names of one mother and one father, but now that the issue has been corrected, the couple says they're excited to try for baby number two.

"For the next baby, it's never going to be an issue, which is like a sigh of relief. Now, going into the hospital, it's not one more thing to worry about," Hannah Smith explained. "It made you feel like, ‘OK, we are not an outsider anymore. We're now just like every other family going into the hospital.’"

She also praised the Health Department for being very proactive once everything was settled. We're told corrected birth certificates have been issued to families affected, free of charge.