Paper short abstract:

This paper aims to reflect on the governance of rights and access to biogenetic information within the field of adoption. This paper uses the framework ‘biolegality’ to address the interrelationship among law, biology, rights, and personhood.

Paper long abstract:

Do children born after ARTs and adoptees have the right to access this information in the age of reproductive biotechnology? Human reproductive technologies -including assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs), donation, and adoption- imply significant biotechnological, subjective, ethical, political, and legal challenges. This paper examines these challenges through the analysis of the ‘right to know’, which refers to the possibility of accessing information about a person’s background.

Access to information is more complex for persons incorporated into a family through assisted reproduction due to the multiplicity of persons involved, the variety of reproductive technologies, the high technological development and the unique mobility of persons and tissues. Engaging with a case study of Spanish-Nepalese adoptions, in this paper I seek to explore the governance of rights in the age of ‘biolegality’ (De Leeuw & van Wichelen, 2020). It focuses on the existence of many barriers to access to information, making the potential search for origins difficult. It highlights the notable tension between law and its translation into practice.