THE RIGHT TO RESPECT FOR PRIVATE AND FAMILY LIFE OF CHILDREN BORN BY SINGLE MOTHERS BY CHOICE

Abstract

The right of single women to found families with assistance of sperm donations is legally placed in the juncture of international human rights and the predominantly national family policies and consequently, family law jurisdictions of each state. Nevertheless, controversies arise from the relational context of the woman’s child wish, her reproductive choices and consequently her right to reproduce, and the child’s right to personal history as well as right to family life with the father. The text looks at the common, general patterns of regulating children’s conceptions by sperm donations to single women in Europe, through the prism of international documents and the practice of the European Court of Human Rights. Further on, the focus is placed on the legislation of the Republic of Macedonia in an attempt to answer why parental proceedings are excluded as a principle rule for children conceived by bio-medical assistance and adopted. The author suggests that uniform way for addressing legal parenthood should apply to all parents, irrelevant of their mutual relationship, and all children irrelevant of the modus of their conception.