Equal Rights to Parents: The Paternity Procedure in Sweden
Nathalie le Bouteillec, Ined
We explore the development of the search for paternity since the adoption of the law of 1917 until today in Sweden. We begin with the legislative debates during the preparation of this law. We then analyse the modalities provided by this law to the practices of paternity research. We trace the history of paternity research until today by studying how the responsibilities (allowances) towards children that are not spontaneously recognized by fathers have developed and what rights it implies concerning inheritance.
Finally we look upon how the dilemma of combining the quest for equal rights for the children to know their parents may become unequal rights for adults to have children. How anonymity among potential fathers (for instance sperm donors) may clash with the law that claims equal rights for the children to know their parents. How the law clashes with single mothers who refuse to give the name of the father, or homosexual couples who do not want to involve a sperm donor or a surrogate mother as parent.
Although the mother was vested with parental authority, the legislature entrusted the municipal administrations, and in particular the Commission for Child Protection, with the responsibility of appointing a "guardian" or curator (barnarvårdsman) for any child born out marriage. The barnarvårdsman was also responsible for investigating and establishing the paternity of the child. In the majority of the cases, the search for paternity and the determination of the amount of child support were dealt with out of court. The man who was recognized as the father of the child undertook to pay maintenance in writing. When the parties could not agree, a legal procedure was launched. Similarly, when the mother refused to entrust the identity of the father to the barnarvårdsman, the curator had to initiate an action in search for paternity. Through history the laws and techniques for identifying the father developed. As with the 1933 Act, which recognized the right of the father to require a blood test and more recently with the DNA technology which in fact has shown that legally determined fathers who have not agreed to this in some cases have not been the biological fathers.
In this article we explore the development of the search for paternity since the adoption of the law of 1917 until today in Sweden. We begin with the legislative debates during the preparation of the 1917 law. We then analyse the modalities provided by this law to the practices of paternity research. We trace the history of paternity research until today by studying how the responsibilities (allowances) towards children that are not spontaneously recognized by fathers have developed and what rights it implies for these children concerning inheritance.
Finally we also look upon how the dilemma of combining the quest for equal rights for the children to know their parents may become unequal rights for adults to have children. How anonymity among potential fathers (for instance sperm donors) may clash with the law that claims equal rights for the children to know their parents. How the law clashes with single mothers who refuse to give the name of the father, or homosexual couples who do not want to involve a sperm donor or a surrogate mother as parent.
Presented in Session 1208: Policy Issues