Anyone looking around today can see numerous alternative family forms besides the ‘traditional’ family with a father and mother. “There are families with adopted children or same-sex parents, and composite families,” Van Roermund explains. “The legislature has already created space for alternative families, such as the possibility for same-sex couples to become a child's legal parents.”
Born from an alternative womb: who are your legal parents?
For centuries, it was biologically fixed: a woman and a man could only have children together. A classic image, now outdated. According to Lisa van Roermund, PhD candidate in Family Law at Radboud University, recent societal and technological developments are begging for a new definition of parenthood. “Legislators must anticipate to avoid future problems.”
Van Roermund points out that forms of parenthood without a biological bond have also existed legally for some time. “For instance, adoptive parents are not genetically related to their child, nor is biological kinship required for legal recognition.” An important development, according to her, was the introduction of the Lesbian Parenthood Act in 2014. “Since then, the female partner of the birth mother – also known as “duo mother” – can automatically become a legal mother under certain conditions, for example, if the child is born during the marriage.”
These examples show that the law is already partly adapting to societal changes. And yet, Van Roermund argues that the core of the legislation still relies heavily on the traditional family. “In law, the starting point is still that a father and mother are biological parents together, while more and more forms of biological parenthood are emerging that are not yet or not sufficiently recognised by law.”
New technologies, old rules
Van Roermund cites high-tech surrogacy as an example, whereby the intended mother's egg is fertilised through IVF technology. The embryo is then transferred to a surrogate mother. The surrogate mother gives birth to the child but is not genetically related to it. “Legally, this poses problems because the woman who gives birth to the child, i.e. the surrogate mother, is automatically the legal mother. For the intended parents, this means they must then adopt the child, leading to legal uncertainty, high costs, and practical difficulties.”
Nevertheless, the rule that the woman who gives birth to a child is automatically their legal mother is there for a reason. “That is a principle of legal certainty,” Van Roermund explains. “It guarantees that a child immediately has at least one legal parent. This is important because legal parenthood creates rights and obligations between parents and children, such as taking care and educating the child.”
Artificial womb
In addition, new reproductive technologies are being developed that put pressure on the existing parenthood system. For example, what if it becomes possible in future for a child to be born from an artificial womb? “There is then no longer a person giving birth to the child,” Van Roermund explains. “And a child therefore, does not automatically have a legal parent.”
Even if such future technologies are banned in the Netherlands, the legal questions that surround them will not disappear. Van Roermund: “Intended parents could defect to other countries where these technologies are allowed. What if they return from abroad with a child born from an artificial womb? The Dutch Law should then provide answers to that. Another newly emerging technology is in vitro gametogenesis (IVG), in which sex cells are created from stem cells, such as the skin cells of a man or woman. What does this mean for our understanding of concepts like ‘father’ and ‘mother’? And do those terms still fit such situations?”
Legislation can inhibit the use of reproductive technologies. “This is already happening through the Embryo Act,” says Van Roermund. “This Act sets what is and is not permitted when it comes to embryos. Nevertheless, technologies continue to evolve rapidly. It is therefore important to consider the legal consequences and a renewed definition of parenthood in good time. After all, legislators need to anticipate to prevent future problems.”
A future-proof parentage law
In her PhD research, Van Roermund takes a broad look at what parenthood means in order to arrive at a new legal definition of parenthood. “I investigate the role biology plays in parenthood and how important people believe it to be. From my interview study with different parents, such as adoptive and biological parents, it appears that there are different views on this. Care and responsibility are aspects that were often mentioned in the interviews: a parent is the one who cares for a child over a longer period of time. In addition, the intention to parent and care for the child was considered important.”
The purpose of her research is clear. “I want to formulate recommendations for a future-proof Dutch parentage law: a system that does not have to be readjusted with every new technology.” Above all, Van Roermund wants to start the conversation about different developments around parenthood. “That is why I also include other disciplines in my research, such as bioethics. There are no ready-made answers yet, but it is important to think about these questions. Because they are about the parenthood of the future.”
Photo: Minnie Zhou via Unsplash
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