Anonymous birth
An anonymous birth is a birth where the mother gives birth to a child without disclosing her identity, or where her identity remains unregistered. In many countries, anonymous births have been legalized for centuries in order to prevent formerly frequent
In an anonymous birth, the mother's right of
History
High rates of infant abandonment, child neglect, and neonaticide created the preventative systems of
Early systems of anonymous birth can be found in
Countries
France
In
Sweden
Early anonymous birth legislation can be found in Sweden where the Infanticide Act of 1778 granted mothers both the right and all means to give birth to their child anonymously. Children born were documented with an unknown mother and would become a foster child. The measure lasted through the 1800s as infant deaths decreased. During this time other factors that contributed to child death as premarital intercourse and unmarried childbearing was punishable by fines to prison time between 1734 and 1865. The system of anonymous birth lasted in Sweden until 1917 when the child's right to know and be supported by mother was decided. After 1917 there were increased legislation on familial bonds and systems that still continue today. In 1998 Swedish legislation added a section of law to provide what is best for a child in custody. A social welfare committee investigates cases where children have been left anonymously to establish guardianship. Currently, there is no legislation allowing mothers to give birth anonymously.[5]
Austria
From 1784 to 1910 at the General Hospital of Vienna mothers could give birth anonymously and leave their child with the hospital. The hospital was created by Emperor Joseph II and nearly 100 births a month were recorded in this practice. The children left had a high mortality rate, nearly all the children died in placement at a nursery or foster home, but this changed over time.[9]
In 1974 Austria identified neonaticide as a major issue making it a specific crime. In 2002 Austria implicated the systems of anonymous birth and baby hatches legislation. From 2002 to 2004 Austria ran a campaign along with the preventive measures to lower neonaticide rates, but after 2004 neonaticide has been on the rise to rates comparable to pre-anonymous birth legislation in the late 1990s to early 2000s.[9]
Germany
In the late 1990s and early 2000s the proposal of legal legislation for the system of anonymous birth in Germany was brought. Groups outside of the German government attempted to push for the policy three times in the early 2000s they each failed.[10] An anonymous birth policy was passed in 2013 in Germany.[4]
Legal situation
In 2003, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in a case involving anonymous birth in Odièvre v. France.[11] The applicant's mother had given birth anonymously; when the applicant later asked for more information, she was only given non-identifying information. The applicant appealed to the Court citing Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, stating that it was a violation to the right to a family life. The Court noted that the case could not simply be viewed as a conflict between the rights of the birth mother and the child, because it also affected the rights of the adoptive parents and any family of the birth mother. The Court ruled that, given that the recently created National Council on Access to Information about Personal Origins presented an avenue to contact the birth mother in a controlled way, the state had attempted to strike a sufficient balance between the competing rights; the application was therefore denied.
See also
- Adoption disclosure
- Baby hatch
- Confidential birth
- Infanticide
- Neonaticide
- Safe-haven laws
References
- hdl:10371/137993.
- ^ S2CID 4540971.
- PMID 19064290.
- ^ ProQuest 1373255306.
- ^ a b Beljestrand, Maria (2011). EN FÖRÄLDER BLIR TILL : Om fastställande och upphävande av föräldraskap och förhållandet till barnets bästa [A PARENT BECOMES: About establishing and revoking parenthood and the relationship to the best interests of the child] (Thesis) (in German).
- ISBN 978-90-474-1208-3.
- ^ .
- .
- ^ S2CID 2037298.
- .
- ^ Odièvre v. France [GC], no. 42326/98, ECHR 2003-III, ECLI:CE:ECHR:2003:0213JUD004232698