Enforcing the Child's Right to Know Her Origins: Contrasting Approaches Under the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the European Convention on Human Rights

Contractualisation of Family Law - Global Perspectives

“…Canadian judges use the criterion of the best interests of the child, including at times the idea that a relationship with the genetic father advances those interests, rather than any theorized "right" on the child's part to know his genetic origins (cf. Besson 2007). Although using not the language of contract, but instead a lexicon of intention and autonomy, feminist scholars have criticized the obstacles to women's becoming "autonomous mothers."…”

Openness in International Adoption

“…2 10 In addition, though there is no explicit reference to identity rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ("ICCPR") is said to protect a right to identity through its various provisions on privacy, autonomy, birth registration, citizenship, and naming. 211 By emphasizing identity formation and informational rights, as well as the best interests of the child, these treaties recognize the importance of adopted persons knowing who their birth parents are and understanding their birth culture. In addition, the basic purpose to "prevent the abduction, the sale of, or traffic in children" 2 1 2 encourages openness as an antidote to fraud and corruption in international adoption.…”

The Role of Birth Certificates in Relation to Access to Biographical and Genetic History in Donor Conception

“…As anticipated, this contained no specifi c measures regarding parental disclosure of donor conception and no reference to birth certifi cates; although included in the marshalled list of amendments to the Bill, to be moved on Report in the House of Lords, were two that (if successful) would have required the HFEA's Code of Practice to include guidance specifi cally related to the need for donor-conceived children to be told about their origins (Earl Howe, Baronesses Finlay and Barker, 2007, Amendment 129;and Lord Jenkin, 2007, Amendment 130). However, in response to the persistence of some members of the House of Lords (including the tabling of an amendment regarding birth certifi cate annotation -see below), while re-affi rming its belief that, "encouraging openness by the parents of donor-conceived children is currently the best way forward" (Baroness Royall, 2007a), and emphasising its previouslyannounced commitment to work with Donor Conception Network to explore "ways in which current and potential parents of donor-conceived children can be encouraged to tell the children about their origins" (Baroness Royall, 2007b), the Government gave a "fi rm commitment" to "carry out a review of practices in 6) Th ere is a considerable amount of literature on the balance of rights between parents and children, for example Kaganas and Piper ( 2001 ), Fenwick ( 2004 ), Choudhry and Fenwick ( 2005 ), Harris-Short ( 2005 ), Fortin ( 2006 ), Herring and Taylor ( 2006 ) Besson ( 2007 ) on the careful balancing act between a child's and parental interests in the context of donor conception. However, our focus here lies with the role of birth certifi cates in relation to access to biographical/genetic information rather than on the deliberation of potentially clashing rights per se.…”