Development of Assisted Reproduction Technologies and Conceptual Crisis in Establishing Motherhood

At present, family law lacks a coherent doctrine of parenthood, in general, and maternity, in particular. The existing ideas pertaining to issues of establishing legal maternity in the context of assisted reproduction technologies fail to provide a logically consistent system of conclusions and recommendations in this area. The current legal science is lagging in the development of a concept of maternity, having to borrow knowledge from other branches of science. In this article, the author examines the ongoing transformation of the institution of maternity in family law under the influence of biomedical technologies. In terms of legal representation, maternity is a multidimensional issue. In this connection, the author formulates a number of research tasks, including establishment of (1) maternity criteria and the legal status of the mother, (2) specific features in the protection of rights and interests of the born child, and (3) influence of assisted reproduction technologies when determining maternity. The author concludes that the development of biomedical technologies and evolution of the institution of the family are driving the need for a new paradigm of the parental legal relationship. In this paradigm, the rights of both social parent and biological parent could be properly recognized and defined. Hence, parenthood, in general, and motherhood, in particular, would be a legally recognized relationship formed from the intention of the subjects to recognize themselves as parents of a particular child.