When it comes to the right to know one's parentage, adopted children must not be treated less favorably than others.
The Federal Court of Justice made this clear on Wednesday for good reasons.
He agreed with a woman who was adopted shortly after her birth and unsuccessfully asked her biological mother for information about her biological father.
However, the right to know one's own descent is part of the general right of personality.
The Federal Constitutional Court ruled this way back in 1989.
After all, for most people it is a vital question who the biological parents are.
The consequences remain controversial
Adoption doesn't usually change that.
It is true that the legal relationship between the biological mother and the child expires with it.
However, the right to information that arose with the birth remains in place.
What follows from the decision at that time for children, fathers and dummy fathers in detail is still controversial today.
Others may oppose your rights.
These include the informational self-determination of the mother and her privacy - for which she must show good reasons to respect.
In the proceedings before the Federal Court of Justice, the mother stated that she "cannot remember any possible producers".
As it is said in civil law, with this information she has not fulfilled her right to information.