Parliament Giving birth under a pseudonym is not regulated by law in the canton of Zurich

Giving birth under a pseudonym, also known as confidential birth, is not regulated by law in the canton of Zurich. On Monday, the cantonal council rejected a GLP motion by 90 votes against and 81 votes in favor. The majority found that the offer already exists and works.

The GLP submitted the motion because confidential births are only offered in six of the eleven listed hospitals in Zurich with a maternity ward. "However, women affected are under particular pressure," said Christa Stünzi (Horgen), explaining the motion.

In such a situation, trusting that the women would inform themselves about the options and that the hospital staff were really in the picture "is too vague". It is also important to publicize confidential births with a campaign.

However, the council majority, consisting of the SVP, FDP and EVP, was against a legal regulation. "It's not clear what would work better if there was a cantonal law on this," said Astrid Furrer (FDP, Wädenswil). The offers were easy to find and established.

The SVP was of the same opinion. Susanna Lisibach (Winterthur) said that the services were already available throughout the canton.

One to two cases per year

With its rejection, the Cantonal Council followed the position of the government, which also finds a legal regulation superfluous. "It is not acceptable to pass a law because of one or two cases per year where it works well," said Health Director Natalie Rickli (SVP).

In order to make the offer of confidential birth more widely known, the Office of Public Health recently supplemented the existing guide "Pregnancy, abortion and adoption".

Anonymous birth remains prohibited

Confidential birth is generally permitted in Switzerland and is offered by hospitals in 18 cantons. The pregnant woman is given a pseudonym and the hospital treats the personal details of mother and child confidentially. However, it reports the details to the civil status authorities, not least because of the AHV. Confidential birth is currently only regulated by law in the cantons of Thurgau and Bern.

"The best of all bad options"

Anonymous birth with complete confidentiality of identity is prohibited in Swiss hospitals. The reason for this is that every child has a right to know its parentage.

For the majority of the Council, confidential birth was "the best of all bad options for mother and child". The baby hatch is clearly worse. Mothers who leave their child there have no care at all during the birth. The child also has little chance of finding out its origins later on.

SDA