UNBA warns against expanding access to medical data in adoption cases

The Verkhovna Rada proposed simplifying the procedure for adopting a child, in particular, abolishing the requirement for applicants to submit a medical report on their health. The guardianship and custody authority can obtain such a document directly from the electronic health care system.

At the request of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on humanitarian and information policy, the Ukrainian National Bar Association analyzed the relevant draft law No. 14106 of October 8, 2025 «On amendments to the civil Procedure Code of Ukraine regarding the clarification of requirements for documents in adoption cases» and provided comments and suggestions.

The bill aims to eliminate a number of practical problems associated with the current requirement to submit a medical report in paper form. First, there is no single mechanism for verifying the authenticity of such documents, which creates the risk of using forged certificates. Second, there is a duplication of procedures, as the report is submitted both by the applicant and by the guardianship and custody authority in the process of preparing the report.

To address these shortcomings, it is proposed that guardianship and custody authorities be given the power to issue medical certificates based on information obtained from the electronic health care system, with the information then being integrated into the Unified Information System of the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine. This is expected to reduce the administrative burden, eliminate duplication of procedures, and ensure the reliability of data used by courts in adoption cases.

At the same time, the UNBA Committee on civil law and procedure warns that data on the health status of citizens is confidential and protected by law. Only persons specified by law have access to it in exceptional cases and in compliance with a special procedure. Granting such access to guardianship authorities may create risks of information leakage that would be disproportionate to the stated purpose of the bill.

As an alternative, advocates propose introducing a register of issued medical reports with a QR code on each document. This mechanism would allow guardianship authorities to verify the authenticity of documents in the same way as notarized forms are verified.

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