Related Publications
- ART and Adoption - Final Report
- Assisted Reproductive Technology and Adoption: Final Report Summary
- Assisted Reproductive Technology and Adoption: Position Paper One - Access
- Assisted Reproductive Technology and Adoption: Newsletter
- Assisted Reproductive Technology & Adoption: Position Paper Three - Surrogacy
- Assisted Reproductive Technology & Adoption: Consultation Paper
- Assisted Reproductive Technology & Adoption: Position Paper Two - Parentage
- Outcomes for Children Born of ART in a Diverse Range of Families: Occasional Paper
- The Convention on the Rights of the Child: Occasional Paper
Parents to tell IVF kids
The government should encourage rather than force parents to tell children they are donor-conceived, according to interim recommendations put forward today by the Victorian Law Reform Commission.
The interim recommendations are contained in the commission’s second position paper in its Assisted Reproductive Technology & Adoption project.
“We believe parents are best placed to tell their children about their genetic origins but the government can help by ensuring parents get counselling and information,” commission chairperson Professor Marcia Neave said.
“We recommend against sperm donors initiating contact with children, in favour of a system where their name is recorded if the children decide to make contact.”
Under the interim recommendations, same-sex parents would have the same legal recognition as heterosexual parents.
“Our main concern in developing our interim recommendations was to improve the position of children born to same-sex couples and single women,” Professor Neave said.
“The current law does not recognise the non-biological parent in same-sex couples, however, children are being brought up in such families and the legal rights of these children need to be protected.
“Under the UN’s Convention on the Rights of the Child, children have the right to child support and inheritance and a relationship with their extended family. Unlike other Australian states, such as Western Australia and Tasmania, Victorian law denies these rights to children conceived by assisted reproduction.
“We are recommending changes to the Adoption Act so that people who are undertaking a parenting role are legally recognised and legally responsible. This means that non-birth mothers will be liable for child support if they leave the relationship and their children will have a right to a share in their estate if they die.
“The changes we are recommending also seek to remove discrimination from the Adoption Act. All legally recognised de facto partners and single people should be able to apply to adopt children under the same criteria applied to heterosexual couples.”