Children & PR 4 & 5 Flashcards
what are the things that the law distinguishes?
Parentage – genetic connection - who is genetic the mother and father
Parenthood – who does the parenting -people who acc raise child, can be all same people but can be diff
Parental Responsibility – s.3 Children Act 1989 -the key factor because that’s who has resposnsibility for child
what are blended families?
We have many blended families now – a parent ‘by being’ and a parent ‘by doing’- pr without being genetic parent
why do we have more blended families now?
We have a lot more blended families now, bc divorce, adoption, cohab and people changing partners
how do the law define parents?
by parents by being and doing- this has knock on effect as to what rights these people have as could be a conflict in that,
why do we have to grasp this
has to grasp that these people can be 3 different people or can be same person
Who are a child’s parents?
Easy in some cases- can be easy if father and mother living together, but problems can arise-mother’s husband is not the father of the child- remarriage= blended family
what if child born through assisted reproduction?
children born through assisted reproduction
- (those providing genetic material, woman who carried the baby, or the people who intend to bring the child up?)
- sometimes mistakes are made
what about adoption?
adoption-what impact does that have on who is resposnibe e.g adopted child had mother but were gonna see what happens to her rghts
Who is the mother?
woman who gives birth-
what about surrogacy?
Person who gives birth always mother even in surrogacy even though child may not be genetically hers
act for surrogacy?
s. 33(1) Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008
- ‘The woman who is carrying or has carried a child as a result of the placing in her of an embryo or of sperm and eggs, and no other woman, is to be treated as the mother of the child.’
reasoning behind surrogacy?
the reasoning is because law says if u carry child 9 months u have special bond and mother has gone thru effort giving birth therefore that gives are parental status
what are other reasons?
2ndreason- woman gives birth seen as mother because it would be so difficult to identify mother in other circumstances e,g say there was a donated egg there will be ways of tracking but much easier to place parent tag on person who gives birth,
3rd reason- it encourages egg donation-Imagine if u wanted to donate u eggs youd be deterred if u have the responsibility (ongoing towards that child)
what happens if adopt?
If you adopt you become the mother of that child- court order that allocates u as the mother
If there is an adoption order the genetic parent loses all power and rights = consequences of adoption, so you transfer it to the adopted mother
Who is the father?
Must prove:
- genetically the father - one of the presumptions of paternity apply and have not been rebutted (see slide 7) - he is a father by virtue of one of the statutory provisions governing assisted reproduction - adoption or parental order
what is the starting point for fathers?
Starting point: father is the person who fertilised the egg
Legal Presumptions of fraternity?
In the absence of a dna test presumption is:
- Man married to the mother at the time of the child’s birth-that assumption does not apply to cohabitees so they have to be married
- Man named on the birth certificate–if your unmarried both of u have to attend because otherwise women could go and register baby and say anyones the father, if ur married only 1 person has to attend but if unmarried both have to
- Man living with the mother at the time of conception
Establishing parentage through the courts?
Re T (Paternity: Ordering Blood Tests) [2001]-The applicant believed in was the father of the child of his friends wive, the married couple didn’t want to have the test and so the man who believed applied to court for dna test, brought up whether or not the child have right -Does a child have a right to know their genetic origins?
what does Re h?
This case not in all cases the child did have a right to know
what is the reason for court not letting child know?
The reason court it was in childs best interest bc there were loads of rumours about child’s parentage
So have to balance the rights of child to know and might not always be best interest as might upset the family balance
what happened in 2006?
In 2006 Baroness Hale in Re G [2006] identified 3 different types of parents
3 different types of parents?
- Legal parenthood-person with parental respons
- Genetic parenthood-Genetic parenthood-So if genetic u have parentage
- Social parenthood- Social parenthood
what about 3 diff types of parents?
this people may be different people e.g local auth can have parental respons, fostered fam might have day to day care of child and then biologically the child might have different parents, there might be 3 sets of people ina childs life
what about presumptions?
but the presumptions are only presumptions, you can rebut them e.g so if cu an prove u were out of country 12 months before child born then factually u cannot be the childs father
Can a parent lose parenthood?
u can lose parenthood
how can u lose parenthood?
- adoption order-genetic parents lose all their rifhts
- parental order
s. 54 Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008-… surrogacy , never given q about s in exam but if u get essay q just remember that if u had child born though surrogacy child isn’t adopted the adopted parents obtain a parental order, same consequences just different word of an act
Who has Parental Responsibility?
The Children Act 1989 s.3(1)
The Children Act 1989 s.3(1) ?
‘parental responsibility means all the rights, duties, powers, responsibilities and authority, which by law a parent of a child has in relation to the child and his property’
who gets automatic pr?
- mother
even if not married to the father - s.2(2) CA 1989 - father
a father married to the mother - s.2(1) CA 1989-nd this has consequences for unmarried father
what doesn’t the law distinguish?
doesn’t always distinguish with children whether people are married or unmarried but with parental respons it does
when does the law distinguish?
but with parental respons,it matters whethe your married or not so automatically the mother gets PR , doesn’t matter whether she is married or not
Establishing PR through the courts? 3 cases
Re S (Parental Responsibility) [1995]
- parent in prison for possession of paedophilic images
A local authority v A, B and E [2011]
- father imprisoned for violence offences
Re M (A child) (Parental Responsibility: Welfare: Status) [2013]
- parent refused PR due to suspected misuse
what happened in re s ?
couple unmarried had child, and separated when she was 1,he continued to see child and paid for her upkeep, then he was convicted when of the images and the mother ceased all contact
- father applied to court for PR and he got it surprisingly,
- reason court awarded because it was seen as stamp of approval, an acknowledgement that he was the father and sent a message to child that the child was cared and loved for
- u could do with pr is limit it and what they did is they gave him very limited response so it really was that he was acknowledged as father and no more than that
what should u think about when u think about pr?
- it gives u power to decide things about child and all of that PR in this case was withdrawn he was just stamp that he was father like in A , B next case
what happened in AB?
awarded PR but again severely restricted
