Overhaul birth registration process so adopted children can access information, say Barnardos

The birth registration process should be overhauled and more legal clarity around the use of assisted reproductive technology is needed so every child is clear where they came from, according to Barnardos.

The children’s charity is among a number due to speak before the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality today on the Child and Family Relationships Bill.

Barnardos has already given the proposed legislation a broad welcome with the charity’s CEO Fergus Finlay claiming it is a “huge step forward” in its attempts to provide greater legal clarity for modern family structures.

One example of how any new legal framework would operate would be a case in which a partner in a same-sex civil partnership, where they are parents to an adopted child, would be able to make important decisions on the child’s behalf regarding schooling or medical treatment.

However, Mr Finlay is expected to tell the committee that some aspects of the bill should be enhanced, among them the birth registration process.

“While there is greater legal recognition for those who have become parents through alternative processes, for example, assisted human reproduction and surrogacy, there is no detail on how the birth registration process will be updated accordingly to include intended parents,” he said. “This must be addressed to ensure all legal documents relating to a child’s birth are clear.”

“Every child has a right to know who they are and where they come from,” he said. “They must be able to trace this information. The woeful legacy of denying a child this right has been writ large in too many adoption cases in Ireland.”

He also said government needed to follow through on its commitment to changing the family law courts system, as a dedicated child and family court service would be much better for hearing such cases rather than the “wholly inappropriate” current system.

Other groups speaking at today’s committee on the bill, which was published last January, include the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, the National Women’s Council of Ireland, and UCC.