Access to personal origins: can one search for the identity of one's parents?

Verified 06 November 2023 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

Yes, children born as a result of delivery under X have the opportunity to access their personal origins, but under certain conditions. People from a assisted reproduction (PMA) with sperm or oocyte donation may depending on the case access their origins. We present you with the information you need to know.

Delivery under X

If you were born to delivery under X and you have been placed on child welfare (Ase) or in an adoption agency, you can apply for access to your origins to know the identity of your parents.

In principle, you must be an adult. If you are placed under guardianship, your guardian must submit the application on your behalf.

However, you can also apply if you are a minor and you are able to judgment. The agreement of your legal representative (parent, adoptive parent, ascendant on the hotline or from your guardian if you are a ward of the state) is required.

Your legal representative may also make a request on your behalf.

The request must be made in writing to the National Council for Access to Personal Origins (CNAOP).

Who shall I contact

You (or your legal representative if you are a minor) must provide proof of your identity:

The application must be accompanied by a completed questionnaire:

Questionnaire to be completed for a request for access to his personal origins

FYI  

The child welfare department of the departmental council that holds your administrative file can help you make the request.

Who shall I contact

Reporting depends on the situation of the child's birth parents.

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The parents have lifted the secret of their identity

Parents can take the initiative to remove the confidentiality of their identity by sending a letter to the CNAOP. This letter must specify the child's first name, date and place of birth.

Parents should also provide their current contact information.

The CNAOP will then inform them that this decision will be communicated to you (or your legal representative) only if you make a request for access to its origins.

Parents can also ask the CNAOP if a search for access to the origins has already been done by the child.

FYI  

the descendants, ascendants and siblings of parents of birth can also declare their identity to the CNAOP.

The parents didn't come forward

If the parents have not come forward, the CNAOP will verify with them that they agree that you (or your legal representative) should learn your identity.

The parents died

The identity secret is lifted unless the deceased parent(s) had expressed a contrary wish on the occasion of a request to know your origins.

Thus, if the parent was not interrogated during his lifetime or if, while he was interrogated, he did not refuse the lifting of his identity after his death, his identity may be revealed to you. In this case, a member of the CNAOP notifies the family of the birth parent and offers them psychological support, justified by the unexpected or painful nature of the revelations.

If the identity of the parents has been lifted, the CNAOP will provide you with the following information:

  • Identity of your mother and/or father (and those of descendants, ascendants and siblings)
  • Your origins (place of birth, health of your parents, circumstances of placement, ...)
  • Reasons for your placement in Asia or an adoption agency

FYI  

when a genetic abnormality is detected in a child born under X or a ward of the state or in one of its parents, which could cause a serious illness during a medical examination, the CNAOP is authorized to consult the national directory for the identification of natural persons. He can then inform his ascendants or descendants that there is important medical information that may affect them, without revealing the identity of the person concerned.

Access to origins has no effect on marital status or filiation.

It therefore does not give rise to any right and/or obligation for the benefit or at the expense of anyone.

LDC or MPA

Yes, if you were born to a Assisted Human Reproduction (MAP), you can request access to your personal origins once you have major.

You will be able to access the identity of the donor and/or his non-identifying data

  • Birthname
  • First name(s)
  • Sex
  • Date and place of birth

  • Age at donation
  • General condition, psychological and physical state at the time of donation
  • Height and weight at the time of donation, skin color, natural appearance of hair and eyes
  • Marital status and number of children
  • Educational attainment and socio-occupational category
  • Country of birth
  • Reasons for donation written by the donor

It all depends on when the donation, which allowed you to be born, was made and used: before or after 1er September 2022.

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Child born from a donation made and used before September 1, 2022

Access to your personal origins depends on the donor's consent to the disclosure of their identity and non-identifying data.

Before 1er in september 2022, this disclosure was not an obligation for the donor.

However, the donor may voluntarily contact the National Council for Access to Personal Origins (CNAOP) to agree to the transmission of this information.

This agreement may also be given by the donor to that committee when the latter contacts him following a request for access to the origins.

Who shall I contact

Child born from donation made and used as of September 1, 2022

Since 1er in september 2022, gamete donors or those proposing their embryos must agree to the disclosure of their identity and non-identifying data before donating.

As of March 31, 2025, gametes and embryos proposed for use at the reception will require donor consent.

You can apply either on free paper or by using the following form:

Application form for access to the identity and non-identifying data of the third-party donor by persons born of assisted reproduction

The form shall be printed and returned by post with the following supporting documents:

  • Copy of an official identity document, issued by a public authority and containing your name, first name(s), date and place of birth, your photograph, your signature and the identification of the authority that issued this document (passport, identity card,...)
  • Full copy of your birth certificate matching your identity, less than 3 months old

The request should be addressed to the Commission for Access to Third Party Donor Data (CAPADD) for Persons Born of Assisted Human Reproduction.

Who shall I contact

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