Filiation is assisted reproduction: potential conflicts and legal implications

Filiation, or a person's parentage, is one of the major components of someone's identity, often with important implications for that person's welfare in social and personal terms. Fertility specialists are enjoined to consider the welfare of the child, and this is a legal requirement in assisted reproduction techniques in the UK. This paper is in three parts, discussing some of the potential problems regarding filiation of the prospective child born of assisted reproduction techniques, in relation to the use of gametes and embryos. The first two parts concentrate on the status of children born as a result of treatment given posthumously, and on filiation problems associated with donation of gametes or embryos, and surrogacy. The third part compares British and French legislation with special regard to the welfare of the child, as well as underlining the common trends and principles enunciated in both legislations. This is particularly appropriate at a time when the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology is about to issue ethical guidelines in assisted reproduction, and when both the Council of Europe and the European Commission have commissioned studies on the implications of the assisted techniques, including those concerning status of the potential children.