Preserving Family Relations as an Essential Feature of the Child's Right to Identity

abstract: Identity is made up of a series of elements, including biological, gestational, and genetic factors that are relevant to the initial recording, potential modification, and restoration of family relations. While some countries, through their legislation, policies, and practices, have slowly moved toward the recognition of these elements and have made efforts to ensure that the right to identity is respected in a number of circumstances, it remains evident that access to personal information and origins is still a challenge for many persons, including those whose births have not been registered and/or who have been in care, have been adopted, were born following the resort to anonymous ARTs or surrogacy, or are in complex sociogeopolitical contexts. The registration of identity elements still does not mean that access to these is safeguarded.