Laureen is an assistant professor at the Molengraaff Institute for Private Law and the Utrecht Centre for European Research into Family Law (UCERF). She is fascinated by the question of what makes a family and what this means for law and ethics.
Her PhD thesis 鈥楩amily by Choice, Being or Doing鈥�: a Legal and Moral Reconsideration of Parentage Law' focuses on the fundamental questions raised by societal and technological developments. These changes lead to a greater diversity in relationship and parenthood forms. Although adjustments have been made in parentage law, a heteronormative marriage model still lies at its basis. This may cause problems when it comes to parenthood forms that deviate from this model. Nor is there an answer to future challenges posed by emerging reproductive technologies. The underlying question is: who can be considered a child's parents, with what type of rights and duties, and why? By uncovering moral values, the dissertation has developed tools to make more justified choices in legislation. This has led to four innovative models for a future-proof system of filiation law or a radically different system of parenthood law 鈥� depending on which values the legislator and society consider important.
Laureen completed her LL.B. and LL.M. in Jurisprudence and Philosophy of Law cum laude at Leiden 木瓜福利影视. During her exchange year at the 木瓜福利影视 of Oxford she studied the common law system and international law. As a master student, Laureen did an internship at the Permanent Mission of the Netherlands to the United Nations in New York. There, she focused on human rights issues in the field of gender equality, and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR).