Everyone was outraged that the draft Civil Code allows marriage at the age of 14. This norm was removed, but problems with same-sex partnerships remained. What are they? We explain as simply as possible

Everyone was outraged by Article 1478 in the draft Code: it lowered the marriageable age for girls with early pregnancies. Were the MPs really trying to legalize pedophilia?

Not quite. A more balanced interpretation of the article is this: it encourages underage girls to become mothers early and risk becoming dependent on the childʼs father and his family.

At least half of early pregnancies in Ukraine occur in traditional communities. The MPs themselves claim that they are protecting the rights of children (not teenagers, but their children).

In any case, who came up with this rule?

Over 160 MPs signed the text (some later withdrew their signatures). The working group that worked on the project was joined by over one and a half hundred experts, mostly from Ukrainian universities.

The project itself consists of two thousand articles, which is over seven hundred pages. The authorship of specific articles, therefore, is not preserved. Instead, the initiators of the bill compiled one or another book of the project.

Letʼs start from the beginning. What is the Civil Code?

The Civil Code is a collection of laws of “civil” (private) law, it regulates the relations of people among themselves and with the state. It applies to everyone who is born, lives and dies in Ukraine.

The Code regulates thousands of everyday situations, such as receiving a name for a child at birth, recognition of paternity, marriage, divorce and custody of children, inheritance of property and even reproductive biological material, death and burial. The Code is divided into books, and the books into articles.

Does it really need to be changed? Why?

Yes, if we want to become a member of the European Union. Among other things, Ukraine must change its legislation, guided by the “Roadmap on the Rule of Law”. First of all, it must recognize the rights of same-sex partners.

Whatʼs wrong with the rights of same-sex partners?

The draft code is written as if same-sex partnerships do not exist — and therefore same-sex partners have no rights. One of the books of the code is devoted to family law.

The articles in this book define (registered) marriage and de facto family union (living together without registration). The wording in all the articles speaks of marriage or union only between “a woman and a man” or “people of the opposite sex”.

Several public organizations proposed amendments to the working group that would bring the project into line with Ukraine’s obligations, but the group ignored them. One of the initiators of the bill, the MP Volodymyr Vatras, who was compiling a book on family law, says that he has not seen these amendments.

In a comment to Babel, he says that the wording of the code is based on the Constitution of Ukraine, which cannot be changed in wartime. At the same time, he supports the so-called “Sovsun law" — a separate bill that allows for the registration of same-sex partnerships. As you might guess from the name, it was introduced by the deputy from “Voice” Inna Sovsun.

Why was it necessary to write "woman and man" and "opposite sex" where it was possible not to do so?

Volodymyr Vatras explains that otherwise legal uncertainty is created, and the parliamentary committee on legal policy checks any draft law for compliance with the Constitution.

According to Vatras, it would be better for Ukraine to follow the path of Estonia, which adopted a law on civil partnerships in 2004 and, 10 years later, equated them with family relationships.

So what should you do?

MP Inna Sovsun proposes to withdraw the draft Civil Code and “organize not a fake, but a real public discussion of the document”. Answering a question from Babel, she suggested that it would take several months to rework the draft.

“We cannot change the obligations [to the EU] that Ukraine has assumed. But there is no political decision to fulfill them, and international partners see this,” she says.

All this controversy surrounding same-sex partnerships seems very disconnected from reality. And itʼs not the time!

In fact, this is our reality. Less than a year ago, a Ukrainian court recognized a same-sex couple as a civil partnership. This was achieved by diplomat Zoryan Kis, who currently works at the Ukrainian Embassy in Israel, and public figure Tymur Levchuk. They have been living together since 2013, and in 2021 they got married in the American state of Utah.

The NGO “All Together!”, headed by Ruslan Kukharchuk, tried to appeal this decision. However, in September 2025, the Kyiv Court of Appeal upheld the decision. “All Together!” filed an appeal with the Supreme Court of Ukraine.

Lawyer Oksana Huz, who represents Zoryan Kis and Tymur Levchuk in court, suggests that if the parliament adopts the Civil Code in its current version, same-sex couples will not be able to have their relationships recognized through the courts.

However, it is unclear what the courts should be guided by in cases similar to the case of Zoryan Kis and Tymur Levchuk, if the Verkhovna Rada adopts both the “Sovsun law” and the Civil Code in its current version.

Are these all the problems in the draft code? Is there anything else?

The draft contains provisions that could create problems for women. For example, it says that a woman cannot divorce during pregnancy and until her newborn child is one year old. The article lists exceptions — such as domestic violence — but this means she will have to prove it in court.

That is why the Vice Speaker of the Parliament Olena Kondratyuk withdrew her signature on the bill. She is a member of the “Motherland” faction and co-founded the Ukrainian Womenʼs Congress NGO.

"I have put so much time and effort into protecting women. I advocated for and passed a law that allowed women to divorce during pregnancy and up to one year of age. I advocated for the Istanbul Convention. And the code has some terrible norms that have come out of nowhere," she commented to Babel.