Chile's first same-sex couple gets married under a new law: "We never thought we would experience such a moment"

Chile is one of a few Latin American countries that allow LGBTQ couples to wed. They can now also adopt children under a December law that was approved by Congress and signed by Sebastian Pinera, the outgoing President.

Jaime Nazar (39), proudly declared, "We never thought we would experience this moment Chile," after marrying Javier Silva, 38., in Santiago suburb.

Two of the couple's young children were present at the historic event.
Silva said, "Now, yes. We can say that we are a family."

He said that his children are in the same situation as straight couples and will enjoy a better future if they have two fathers who love one another.

Silva was the one who carried the 18-month-old boy of the couple in his arms. Nazar bore their four-month-old daughter.

Surrogate pregnancies abroad used the sperm from one of the couples to produce the children. They had one legal recognized father, the biological donor.

"A very important step in the country's history"

Between 2015 and Thursday, same-sex partners who wanted to formalize their relationship could only use civil union agreements. These agreements confer many of the same rights as marriage, but do not offer the possibility for legal adoption.

"This is an important step for the country. "We feel very proud and privileged to have been here," Nazar, a dentist, said.

Pabla Heuser and Consuelo Morales, both 38-year-olds, stated that they got married primarily for Josefa, their 2-year-old daughter.

Morales stated that Josefa has ceased to be an illegitimate child today. Heuser was the sole legal parent of the girl until now.

Three same-sex marriages were held in Chile on Thursday, the day that the law went into effect.

It was just before Gabriel Boric, leftist politician and Chile's youngest-ever President, swearing in.

Chile had been waiting for the passage of the bill on marriage since Michelle Bachelet, then-president, sent it to Congress in 2017.

Surprisingly, Pinera, the conservative successor to her, announced last year that he would push for the passage of the bill through Congress -- which was supported by a majority in Chile.

It was signed by Pinera just two days after the lawmakers approved it ahead of the presidential elections in which Boric's far-right opponent Jose Antonio Kast voted neck-and-neck.

Boric supported the move, but Kast opposed it.

Chile is one of the 30 countries that allows same-sex marriage. There are seven Latin American countries, along with Argentina and Uruguay.