25 February 2025
We are currently seeing heightened levels of uncertainty and change around the world, ranging from economic challenges to seismic shifts in geopolitics and rapid developments in artificial intelligence, on-demand digital technology, genetics and DNA testing, precision healthcare and assisted reproduction. These can impact all stages of the life cycle from pre-conception through pregnancy, birth, family life and end-of-life care. This evolving landscape can create complex issues about family formation, personal identity, birth registration, legal and biological parenthood, genetic and health issues and relationships with family and relatives. In turn, this can require effective legal strategies to address issues about personal identity, DNA testing, legal and biological parentage, birth registration and family dynamics.
Personal Identity
For some, personal identity is uncontentious. However, for others it can raise deep seated and problematic issues that can stem from adoption, a direct-to-consumer DNA test, an absent parent, donor conception, fertility fraud, a secret relationship or an incomplete or inaccurate birth certificate. Personal identity issues can crop up at any stage in life, weigh heavily on people’s minds and emotional wellbeing and create legal and practical difficulties. It can require people to confront a range of fundamental and deeply personal and sensitive questions. Who am I? Where do I come from? Who is my mother or father? Who are my biological relatives? What is my genetic ancestry? What is my cultural heritage? What is my legal identity? In turn, this can require bespoke family and fertility law strategies and specialist management to address and resolve these issues and clarify legal and biological parentage, rectify a birth certificate, navigate DNA testing and manage relationships with family and genetic relatives.
Legal and Biological Parentage
Clarity around legal and biological parentage can also prove problematic in practice. The circumstances of an individual’s conception, the marital status of a birth mother and her partner, the use of donor eggs/sperm and surrogacy, the accurate completion of consent forms as a UK licensed fertility clinic, adoption and complex and secretive family history are just some factors which can create questions, gaps or uncertainty about legal and biological parentage and personal origins. This can create wide ranging issues concerning citizenship, financial responsibility for a minor child, inheritance, consanguinity and genetic ancestry, parental responsibility and legal rights for the care and upbringing of a child and legal relationships with others.
Birth Registration
It is also important, both from a personal and societal perspective, that birth registration records and individual birth certificates are correct. A birth certificate is a key document that records personal details and parentage. It is also a form of proof of personal identity that can be requested at different stages of life including: applying for citizenship and passport, upon marriage, for education and employment purposes. As such, a birth certificate fulfils both personal and societal functions. However, issues with birth registration can arise for a variety of reasons including: mistaken paternity, lack of understanding about fertility law, administrative error upon registration of a child’s birth, inaccurate or gaps in registration of father/second parent.
Declaration of Parentage
Making an application to the English Family Court can help address, clarify and resolve issues about personal identity, legal and biological parentage and rectify a birth certificate. This can help inform and stabilise personal history and lead to the correction and re-registration of a birth certificate. Specialist fertility and family law and advisory expertise can also provide effective strategies to navigate a range of complex wider issues about DNA testing, family dynamics and more.
Find out more about our specialist expertise concerning legal parentage and parenthood and applications for a Declaration of Parentage in the English Family Court.
Fertility and Family Law
Do you need help resolving your personal identity, your biological or legal parentage or to rectify your birth certificate? Do you need assistance to address your family ancestry or your genetic/adopted/donor conceived origins or the results of an at-home DNA test? If you would like to discuss your situation or you need specialist legal parenthood, fertility and family law advice contact Louisa Ghevaert by email louisa@louisaghevaertassociates.co.uk or by telephone +44 (0)20 7965 8399.
Images: Louisa Ghevaert, CEO & Founder Louisa Ghevaert Associates
