On 28 April, Naomi Angell who has recently joined Dawson Cornwell as a consultant, spoke at a CoramBAAF annual lecture on recent research concerning children and young people.
CoramBAAF is the leading national charity for professionals working with children.
Dr Sophie Zadeh, a Reader in Family Psychology at Sussex University gave the keynote speech on the recent research she has done on the lived experience of donor conceived children and young people. Dr Zadeh’s presentation focused in particular on what they are told and not told about their conception and their biological origins where their biological father is usually an anonymous sperm donor.
Since 2005 donor conceived individuals at 18 have the legal right to access identifying information about their donor.
Naomi joined a panel which included a donor conceived young man who had always known about his birth origins and who spoke on how important this had been to him in forming his identity and sense of belonging.
Naomi drew the analogy with adopted children and those born by surrogacy and the far reaching implications for the children and their families when there are family secrets. Uncovering these secrets is now far more likely with the rapid developments in ancestry tracing, DNA testing and the use of the internet by children and young people secretly tracing unknown family members.
Should you need any advice about adoption, surrogacy agreements, family formation and assisted reproduction rights, we at Dawson Cornwell would be happy to assist you with this. Please do not hesitate to contact us on +44 (0)20 7242 2556 or at [email protected].
Please note that this blog is provided for general information only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content of this blog.