“Respect is due to the position of any mother who goes through pregnancy without family support and then chooses to relinquish the child at birth in the belief that it is for the best. Respect is also due to the position of the unsuspecting relatives. Some may have been a fleeting presence in the mother’s life, but others may be more significant figures who have been kept in the dark and would be astonished to find that a baby (their child, sibling or grandchild) had been born and adopted without their knowledge, particularly if they were in a position to put themselves forward as carers. Most of all, the notification decision has life-changing implications for the baby. It may influence whether adoption happens at all and, even if it does, a sound adoption has its foundations in the integrity of the process by which it is achieved.”
“the statutory material as a whole provides strong indicators of the importance of engagement of the wider family in the adoption process. In the circumstances, any request for an adoption that excludes a father or close family members will naturally be carefully scrutinised by social workers and the court. That instinct is reinforced by the established domestic and European case-law that emphasises that non-consensual adoption can only be approved if, after consideration of the realistic options, nothing else will do.”
“38. Article 6 imposes obligations upon the court, as opposed to the local authority, but where adoption is contemplated, other participants in the process need to be aware of the framework within which the court must work. 39. The right to a fair hearing is not a qualified right but it may be subject to implied limitations… Any limitations must not impair the very essence of the right and they will only be compatible with Article 6 if they pursue a legitimate aim in a proportionate manner…the entitlement to disclosure of relevant evidence is not an absolute right. However…if measures restricting the rights of a party to the proceedings are to be permissible, any difficulties caused by the limitation must be sufficiently counterbalanced by the procedures followed by the judicial authorities. Where evidence has been withheld on public interest grounds, the court must ensure that, as far as possible, there are adequate safeguards to protect the individual’s interests. This approach must be equally appropriate to cases where the existence of the child and of the proceedings is not known by the individual. 40. Article 8 encompasses the right to respect both for private life and for family life where it exists. It is of direct relevance to both the local authority and the court as public bodies. 41. “Private life” is a broad term that includes aspects of an individual's physical and social identity including the right to personal autonomy…The circumstances of giving birth incontestably form part of one’s private life… A mother who wishes to relinquish a baby confidentially is entitled to make that choice, though she is not entitled to insist on the child being adopted. The guarantee afforded by Article 8 is primarily intended to ensure the development, without outside interference, of the personality of each individual in his relations with other human beings… It must therefore extend to the confidentiality of information about the birth as the disclosure of such information has clear implications for the personal development of the mother. 42. The existence or non-existence of family life is essentially a question of fact depending upon the existence of close personal ties…The notion of “family” concerns marriage-based relationships, and also other de facto family ties where the parties are living together or where other factors demonstrate that the relationship had sufficient constancy… 43. “Family life” may also be established between a child and his or her grandparents and wider family… 44. So, factors that may indicate the close personal ties that constitute family life (though their absence does not automatically negative its existence) include: marriage or a marriage-like relationship, cohabitation, length of relationship, intention to found a family, demonstration of commitment by having children together, demonstrable commitment to the child before and after birth. In cases of undisclosed pregnancy and birth, a father or other family member will have had no opportunity to demonstrate commitment to the child and the focus will inevitably be on other factors and a counterfactual assessment of the likely position had the facts been known.”
“…this body of authority at first instance and on appeal affirms that there is a discretion to be exercised by the local authority and by the court as to whether fathers and other relatives should be notified of the birth of a child. The discretion requires the identification and balancing up of all relevant factors. While the mother's right to confidentiality is important it is not absolute. The presence or absence of family life is an important, though not a decisive feature and where it exists strong countervailing factors are required to justify withholding knowledge of the existence of the child and the proceedings. The tenor of the authorities is that in most case notification will be appropriate and the absence of notification will be the exception; but each case will in the end depend on its facts. In each case, the welfare of the child was regarded as an important factor but, significantly, there is no suggestion that the exercise of the discretion is governed by the paramountcy principle.”
‘[16] The baseline position is the common law principle that a child’s legal parents are the gestational mother and the genetic (also known as biological) father. This is a principle of law and not a rule of evidence or a presumption. However, the common law modifies the principle in relation to a married man, who will benefit from a rebuttable presumption of parenthood in respect of a child born to his wife during the marriage, whether or not he is the genetic father...’