1944: (The Contradictions of the Child Inheritance Law — While the Child Inheritance Law Authorized Research for Paternity and Gave Children Born Out of Marr…

1944: (The Contradictions of the Child Inheritance Law — While the Child Inheritance Law Authorized Research for Paternity and Gave Children Born Out of Marriage the Same Rights to Inheritance as Children Born in Marriage the Law Maintaining That a Married Man Could Not Legally Recognize a Child Outside of Marriage — Children from Second or Third Partnerships Could Not Inherit Land and Children Born Out of Noncontractual or Nonkinship Arrangements in Which the Man Was Legally Married Being Both Economically and Socially Alienated, Haitian Women’s Rights Activist Suzie Boisrond Explaining This Type of Legislation Established Not Only Hurtful Practices of Alienation but Also Juridically Tiered Sexual Relationships): While the child inheritance law authorized research for paternity and gave children born out of marriage the same rights to inheritance, the law maintained that a married man could not legally recognize a child outside of marriage. If a man remained unmarried, he could continue to socially and legally recognize his children, but if he were married, he could only legally recognize the children of the first marriage. Children from second or third partnerships could not inherit land. And in the case of children born out of noncontractual or nonkinship arrangements in which the man was legally married, children were both economically and socially alienated. Haitian women’s rights activist Suzie Boisrond explains that this type of legislation established not only hurtful practices of social and financial alienation for children and mothers but also juridically tiered sexual relationships — the law created a hierarchy of wombs: the first wife’s children inherited, the second wife’s children existed in legal purgatory, and the unmarried woman’s children were ghosts in the ledger of the state.