KLETEČKOVÁ, D. Anonymous child abandonment in the Czech Republic. Prague: Faculty of Arts of Charles University in Prague, 2014. 131 s. Diploma thesis. In the theoretical part the student aims to map the situation of leaving children anonymously in the Czech Republic in comparison with selected countries in Europe, the history of this phenomenon, the current situation and possible insights into the future. Anonymous leaving of children is studied from several perspectives, in terms of legal, psychological, medical and mainly social point of view. In the empirical part the method of inquiry, namely the interview technique is used. For this purpose experts on the specific areas were interviewed - lawyers, psychologists, doctors and social workers. In the conclusion part the research data are evaluated and possible measures suggested. Key words Anonymous abandoment, secret delivery, babybox, family, child

Uppsatsens övergripande syfte är att undersöka hur det har påverkat ett barn att växa upp med en familjehemlighet. Vi har intervjuat en person vars familjehemlighet grundade sig i att hennes pappa hade ett alkoholmissbruk. Vi belyser hur ett barn påverkas av att bevara en familjehemlighet utifrån tre olika miljöer; familjen, skolan och kompisrelationer samt om och i så fall hur det har gjort intryck i hennes vuxna liv. För att besvara uppsatsens syfte har vi genom en kvalitativ metod i form av en halvstrukturerad livsvärldsintervju samlat in vår empiri. Teoretiska perspektiv vi använt oss av är systemteori och KASAM- Känsla av sammanhang, som speglar individen, samspelen och sammanhangen mellan de teman vi valt att fokusera på. Intervjumaterialet är analyserat utifrån den narrativa metoden. Vidare har vi använt oss av teman och perspektiv då vi undersökt hur intervjupersonen har skapat en identitet och gett sitt liv mening utifrån sina livserfarenheter. Resultatet visar att intervjupersonens familj, skolgång samt kompisrelationer har påverkats. Bland annat gjorde hon ett aktivt val och är idag nykterist. Intervjupersonen har i olika perioder av sin uppväxt tagit sig an olika roller och beteenden beroende på i vilka sammanhang och miljöer hon befunnit sig. Dessa roller och beteenden har inte varit bestående men återkommande vilket är viktigt att påvisa. / The essay´s overall purpose is to examine how it has affected a child growing up with a family secret. We have interviewed a person whose family secret was based on the alcohol addiction of her father. We have chosen to illustrate how a child is affected by maintaining a family secret from three different environments; family, school, and through friendship, and whether and if so, how it has made an impression in her adult life. To answer the purpose for this thesis, we have collected our empirical data through a qualitative method, in the form of a semi-structured life-world interview. Theoretical perspectives we have made use of are systems’ theory and SOC – Sense of Coherence, which reflect the individual, the interactions, and relationships between the themes we have chosen to focus on.The interviews have been analyzed based on the narrative method. Furthermore, we have used the themes and perspectives when investigating how the interviewee has created an identity and conferred meaning to her life, from the basis of her experiences. The results show that the interviewee's family, school, and friendships have been affected. Among other things, she made an active choice and is now a teetotaler. During different periods of her growth, she has adopted different roles and behaviors, depending on the situation and environment she has been in. These roles and behaviors have not been durable, but recurring, which is important to emphasize.

The United States Supreme Court decision in the Roe v. Wade (1973) case provides women with a right to privacy and the liberty to make decisions concerning their reproductive lives. With this, women who become pregnant are offered the right to choose between keeping their pregnancy and terminating the pregnancy by way of abortion. Since Roe v. Wade (1973), many women have exercised their reproductive liberties, as evidenced by the termination of over 60 million pregnancies via legal abortion in the United States. Still, secrecy among women with a history of abortion remains a common phenomenon. Studies conducted on abortion and reasons for abortion are innumerable and literature on reasons women keep abortion secret are readily available. However, research lacks in the area of examining the lived experience of women with history of abortion secret. Thus, this research examines this phenomenon from women’s lived experiences and the effects of the secret on their relationship(s) when kept from at least one person(s) with whom the post-abortive women are/were in relationship. Purposive sampling was used to select five female participants for this study. To examine participants’ lived experience with abortion secret history as it relates to its effects on relationship(s), the researcher employed qualitative method Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) in conjunction with Bowen Family Systems Theory approach. Seven superordinate themes emerged from the data analysis: self-sacrifice, emotional aftermath of abortion secret; secrecy as protection; dance of anxiety; effects on relationships; generational experiences; and, finding freedom. The collaborative use of IPA and Family Systems Theory provided an understanding of participants’ experiences, the effects of the secret on participants, as well as their emotional systems. The data collected added to the limited research available on this phenomenon providing space for post-abortive women’s secrecy experience to be heard.

Le premier secret de famille cité par les personnes interrogées par questionnaire est celui de la filiation. Les personnes nées dans le secret (ou nées sous X) sont destinataires d'un secret imposé par la législation, celui de leurs origines biologiques. Si de surcroît, cette adoption leur a été cachée par leur famille, comme c'est le cas des personnes rencontrées dans le cadre de cette recherche, la conséquence en est une souffrance d'autant plus violente que la révélation aura été tardive. Les loyautés familiales contraignent les membres à répéter événements familiaux et les contraignent à payer les fautes de leurs ancêtres. La famille vit enfermée dans un mythe familial qui prescrit les lois et règles à respecter.Aussi, après la révélation, la personne destinataire du secret va refuser ces lois et règles ; elle va être marginalisée par sa famille et le dialogue, voire toutes relations avec sa famille, seront rompus. Ainsi, elle s'est libérée des lois et règles prescrites par le mythe familial et de toute forme de loyauté vis-à-vis de sa famille. Cette exclusion va lui permettre de se socialiser. En effet, dans notre société, la transparence est le fer de lance et "l'extimité" est prônée. Le secret ne s'y oppose pas mais les complémente et la validation du secret est un soutien à la socialisation pour la personne / The first family secret quoted by the people questioned by questionnaire is that of filiation. The people born in the secret (or born under X*) are recipients of a secret imposed by legislation, that of their biological origins. If in addition, this adoption was hidden from them by their family, as is the case of the people met in the context of this research, the consequence is a all the more violent in terms of suffering as the revelation will have been late. Family loyalty forces members to repeat family events and forces them to pay for the faults of their ancestors. The family lives lockecl up in family myth which prescribes the laws and rules to be respected. And so, after the revelation, the person recipient of the secret will refuse these laws and rules ; he or she will be marginalized by his or her family and dialogue, or even all relations with his or her family, will be broken. Thus, he or she was released from the laws and rules prescribed by family myth and from any form of loyalty with respect to his or her family. This exclusion will enable him or her to become sociable. Indeed, in our society, this transparency is triumphed and "extimity" is applauded. Secrets are not opposed to this but are complimentary and the valid ation of the secret is a support for the socialization of the person