Assisted Procreation

1709 Words4 Pages

At first glance, assisted procreation practices do not necessarily violate a child’s right to identity. The violation lies in the fact that the state is not taking a serious enough stance on regulating the issues that emerge from assisted procreation technologies. The state is voluntarily removing its responsibilities in regulating this field by allowing cases of donor confusion, the implantation of too many embryos and the disorganization of donor files. Instead of imposing criminal sanctions or punishments, the state is too often turning a blind eye. It has been discovered that individuals, created by means of assisted procreation, are faced with legal challenges when obtaining information relating to their origins. The information required to establish the identity of their donors are either very limited or non-existent. Pratten v. British Columbia (Attorney General) , is a pending landmark decision, in which an individual conceived through assisted procreation, legally seeks to obtain the identity of her sperm donor. The B.C. Supreme Court's decision may quash a donor's rights to remain anonymous. If the Supreme Court rules against anonymity rights for donors, this would be North America's first ruling of this kind, allowing the identity of a donor to be accessible to their offspring. Olivia Patten is not only representing herself in the case, but all other individuals conceived from a donor. She is challenging the provincial government's failure to "ensure that records are created and maintained so that children of such donations can know their full heredity, including genetic, cultural, medical and social history”. If the court rules in favour of British Columbia's Attorney General, the court will also rule against an ... ... middle of paper ... ...ernational law, must be included in national legislation, and further recognized by the courts. The goals of assisted procreation must remain intact, and therefore it must be understood that science will only continue to progress in this domain, and thus, the government must take serious action before assisted procreation completely removes the child from the picture. Since children cannot protect themselves, the government must take responsibility into its own hands, to ensure that adequate protection is given to the child and all long-term effects are taken into consideration. The best interest of the child must be the main focus. Legislation remains the only voice and form of representation given to the unborn child, therefore this voice must be non-contradicting and in support of children’s rights on a provincial, federal and international level.

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