Havana, Sep 19.- Juan Carlos Gonzalez is very clear about why he intends to vote in favor of the new Cuban Family Code in the popular referendum on September 25: he wants to be the father of his son.
“Since Maikol was three years old I have been by his side. His mother and I have witnessed his four surgeries and many other moments; however, although the affection is mutual, since I am not the biological father, I cannot represent him,” he told Prensa Latina.
After 17 years of living together, Maikol, who at birth suffered from cerebral palsy and as a result cannot walk well and has a slight delay in learning, he sees Gonzalez as a father who deals not only with material matters, but also with the affection necessary to growing up.
“When I married his mother, he didn’t walk. We went through several operations on his feet, rehabilitation, studies at the Solidaridad con Panama school, so we have a special affection,” this man, a driver for a state institution said .
He added that the biological father left the country, and communication is very little.
Gonzalez says he feels hurt when for some reason he has to represent the son, because although he says he is his father, and he is his father indeed, when he shows his identity card it is clear that he is not recognized as such under the law.
“These family actors, who had not had true legal recognition until now, should be made visible under the law, Dr. Leonardo Perez, president of the Cuban Society of Civil and Family Law, of the National Union of Jurists of Cuba, said.
In this sense, the new Family Code establishes the figure of stepfathers and stepmothers, who are the spouses or the affective common-law partner who lives with the person who is in charge of the custody and care of the girl, the boy or teenager, as a consequence of the formation of blended families. (PL)