THE RIGHT OF A CHILD STARTED WITH ASSISTED REPRODUCTION AID TO GET INFORMATION OF ITS DONORS – COMPARATIVE LAW SOLUTIONS

Abstract

The right of the child to receive information about his donor and therefore his genetic origin is derived from the child’s right to know who his parents are, as provided for by Article 7 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. In order to understand Article 7 in an appropriate manner it needs to be interpreted with reference to Article 8 of the same Convention - the right of the child to preserve his identity, as well as Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights - the right to respect for private and family life.

Regarding the rights of a child initiated by the assisted reproductive procedure to obtain information about his donor in comparative law, we encounter two opposing points. One group of legislation (Swedish, Austrian, German, British) provides unlimited availability of donor identification information, while another group (French, Danish, Norwegian, Russian) provides for an absolute prohibition of access to information on the provider of genetic material, with the exception of medical information. A special review was made regarding the legal solution envisaged in the law of Sweden as the state that first envisaged the right of the child to start assisted reproduction by obtaining information about his donor.

The right of the child to obtain information on biological origin is derived from the child’s right to know who his parents under Article 7 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. In order to understand Article 7 in an appropriate manner it needs to be interpreted with reference to Article 8 of the same Convention - the right of the child to preserve his identity, as well as Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights - the right to respect for private and family life.

Two judgements from European Court on Human Rights are an indicator of the development of thought in this matter. The significance of Odièvre’s judgments in France and Jäggi in Switzerland is that the two judgments determine the scope of the right to information on genetic ori gin, but also indicate a possible extended scope of the right to information on genetic origin. These two judgments are also an indication of the extent to which children started with artificial insemination can rely on Article 8 as a means of obtaining information on the provider of genetic material An international act should be enacted that would allow children conceived with assistance of donor to get information about its biological origin.