Under article 326 of the Civil Code (2), “During childbirth, the mother may request that the secrecy of her admission and of her identity be preserved. So any pregnant woman can go to the maternity hospital of her choice and inform the medical team of her wish to give birth in secret. The maternity hospital staff are not allowed to ask her for an identity document, but she is obliged to inform the woman of various elements:

• consequences of abandoning the child
• the possibility of giving in a sealed envelope his identity or any other element (for example information on his health and that of the father, the origins of the child and the circumstances of his birth). The envelope will then be kept by the National Council for Access to Personal Origins (CNAOP).
• of the guardianship regime for wards of the State
• the deadlines and conditions under which the child can be taken back by his parents

If she wishes, the woman can benefit from psychological and social support from the child welfare service (ASE).

With the creation of the CNAOP, the law of January 22, 2002 promotes the bringing together of the child and his parents, but only at the request of the child. As soon as he comes of age or with the consent of his legal representative if he is a minor, a child “born under X” can make a request for access to his origins to find out the identity of his parents (article L. 147- 2 of the Social Action and Families Code). He must make a written request to the CNAOP who will open the envelope (if there is one) and contact the mother to inform her of the child’s request and seek her agreement to lift the secret of her identity. However, this lifting of secrecy has no effect on civil status and filiation (article L 147-7).

For their part, the birth parents can also contact the CNAOP at any time to provide as many elements in their possession concerning the first names, date and place of birth of the child as well as their current contact details and their security number. social.

According to the activity report (3) of CNAOP, in 2014:

• requests for access to personal origins have slightly decreased (733 written requests in 2014 against 904 in 2013)
• the percentage of birth parents agreeing to release the secrecy of their identity has also decreased (41,5% of birth parents contacted agreed to release the secrecy of their identity in 2014, compared to 44,4% in 2013)