Meaning, Biology and Identity: The Rights of Children

Authors

Anika Smith

Abstract

Sperm and egg donation in the United States is only loosely regulated, and the current regime privileges the anonymity of the adult donor over the child’s right to identity. The majority of people conceived through anonymous donation do not support the practice but find their rights abrogated by contracts made by their intentional and biological parents. Donor reliance on the anonymity guaranteed by those contracts is shifting as at-home genetic testing limits their expectation of privacy, with more biological ties being discovered by children conceived through gamete donation. This Comment explores the child’s right to identity in family law cases, examines alternate regimes of gamete donation, and argues that as donor reliance on anonymity erodes, the child’s liberty interest in the right to identity outweighs the donor’s contractual interest in anonymity.

Recommended Citation

Anika Smith, Meaning, Biology and Identity: The Rights of Children, 69 Cath. U. L. Rev. 371 (2020).
Available at: https://scholarship.law.edu/lawreview/vol69/iss2/10