Catholic University Law Review Volume 69 Issue 2 Spring 2020 Article 10 10-19-2020 Meaning, Biology and Identity: The Rights of Children Anika Smith Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.edu/lawreview Part of the Family Law Commons, and the Health Law and Policy Commons Recommended Citation Anika Smith, Meaning, Biology and Identity: The Rights of Children, 69 Cath. U. L. Rev. 371 (2020). Available at: https://scholarship.law.edu/lawreview/vol69/iss2/10 This Comments is brought to you for free and open access by CUA Law Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Catholic University Law Review by an authorized editor of CUA Law Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Meaning, Biology and Identity: The Rights of Children Cover Page Footnote J.D. 2020, The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law; B.A. 2006, Seattle Pacific University. The author would like to thank God and all His angels and ministers of grace, including: her parents, for giving her a strong sense of her identity from the beginning; David Crawford, for his patient guidance and thoughtful questions; Helen Alvaré, for her inspiration and courage; and most emphatically, the staff and editors of the Catholic Law Review, for their thorough and careful work on this paper. This comments is available in Catholic University Law Review: https://scholarship.law.edu/lawreview/vol69/iss2/10 MEANING, BIOLOGY, AND IDENTITY: THE RIGHTS OF CHILDREN Anika Smith+ When I discover who I am, I’ll be free.1 - Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man Novelist Ralph Ellison was once asked whether the search for identity is “primarily an American theme.”2 “It is the American theme,” he answered.3 “The nature of our society is such that we are prevented from knowing who we are.”4 This is especially true for children who were conceived via gamete donation.5 There are no current official numbers available because the U.S.