ADOPTION AND GENETIC IDENTITY: PROMOTING THE BEST INTEREST OF THE CHILD

Abstract

The children have a right to live in a family unit with their parents, and in this aspect, they are provided all the rights that come out of the parenting relations. However, not all children are given the chance to grow up in a healthy and safe family, which represents a misfortune throughout history and is still evident in modern times. Acknowledging that not all children are equally fortunate, we recognize the plight of those who, through circumstances unrelated to their own actions, are excluded from family life. This paper provides fundamental data proving that through the institution of adoption, these children are provided with security, familial love, and parental care.

This paper analyzes all the facts that result in the conclusion that the adoption, as a legal institution, makes it possible that the adopted children are provided a family life that in absence of biological parents, is given to them by the adoptive parents. Parents are not only those who give birth to the child, parents are also the people that give the adoptive children family love and care, as well as help them in all the stages of their lives. The paper emphasizes that the adoption has a multidimensional importance and purposes: for the adopted children, for the  parents who adopt, and for the society as well as for the biological parents that do not have means to take care of their children or for another reason abandon their children..          Knowing the genetic background is also raised as an important issue in the paper. The child's right to know their identity is emphasized in cases of adoption, artificial reproduction, when fertilization is done with donated genetic material, and in cases of children born out of wedlock. In these situations, the child's biological status does not match their legal status because the child is not genetically related to their legal parents. Related to this, the paper examines several court cases from the European Court of Human Rights, which has frequently ruled on violations of the right to privacy and family life in the context of the child's right to know their biological origin. The paper also highlights the legal barriers and gaps in the Republic of North Macedonia that prevent adopted children from obtaining information about their genetic identity. These barriers are inconsistent with international documents ratified by the Republic of North Macedonia. Additionally, the paper emphasizes the need to remove from the Family legislation the institution of incomplete adoption, which has been shown in legal practice to be ineffective in establishing a family.