Information for parents/caregivers of young people seeking Family Planning clinical services
Talking together
As young people move towards adulthood, they explore new relationships, become involved in activities outside the family and become increasingly independent.
Nevertheless their family remains important and parents continue to be concerned and involved in their children's happiness, health and welfare throughout their lives.
Many young people talk to their parents about decisions to engage in sexual activity and ask for advice on their health care. Other young people decide to work things out for themselves.
Sometimes young people worry that sharing personal information with parents results in friends and family finding out. Other young people think their parents have too much else on their minds, so don’t want to worry them.
Parent-child relationships can be difficult during the teenage years and young people can be concerned that a parent’s point of view will bias them from fully supporting the decisions they make as young people.
Access to health services
All parents want their children to be safe and to make positive, healthy decisions. To be able to do this, young people need access to quality sexual and reproductive health services that Family Planning and others provide.
Parents can be confident that Family Planning treat all clients in a non-judgemental non-biased and non-coercive way. During consultations Family Planning staff will take into consideration the emotional, social and cultural needs of their clients and are skilled at discussing all aspects of relationships.
In New Zealand young people under the age of 16 can consent to their own medical treatment including receiving contraceptive advice and sexual health services. However, when working with young people, health professionals are required to consider the young person’s ability to fully understand the decisions they are making about their treatment.
Family Planning encourages young people to seek support from their parents, caregivers or whanau. Young people are helped to identify another adult for support when they believe involving their parents is inappropriate or unsafe.
Young women with an unintended pregnancy seeking Family Planning advice are given full, unbiased information about their pregnancy options.
These options include continuing with the pregnancy leading to parenting, adoption or co-guardianship, or referral to consider an abortion. Young women, as women of any age, will have talked with three health professionals before they have an abortion.
All three health professionals talk to young women about the benefits of discussing their pregnancy with their parents or another safe adult.
Confidentiality
Parents like to be involved when their children make health decisions. Family Planning staff encourage young people to seek advice and support from within their families. However young people who are able enough to fully understand the decisions they are making, enjoy the same confidentiality as any other person in the health professional–patient relationship.
Information about a consultation with a health professional will not be disclosed to others, including parents, unless there is a very good reason for doing so, such as if there is serious risk to the patient’s health, safety or welfare.
People experienced in working with young people reveal that young people’s concern about confidentiality is the biggest deterrent to them asking for sexual health advice.
An American study in 2002 showed that nearly half of the young women surveyed would stop using sexual health services if their parents were automatically notified. The same study showed that 99% would continue to have sexual intercourse.
New Zealand law allows young women under 16 to access confidential abortion services without notifying their parents. Experience has shown that young women are more likely to seek a safe legal abortion rather than an unsafe one when they are certain of the service’s confidentiality.
Family Planning staff encourage young women to involve their parents when making decisions about unintended pregnancy.
Respect and resilience
Young people have a right to be treated with respect and need to fully participate when making decisions about their health. These decisions need the support of good information and quality services. The authority of parents decreases as young people learn to take more control over their lives.
Trusting a young person’s ability to make rational decisions about their health will build resilience and enhance their competence. This resilience will allow them to care for their health both now and in the future.
Updated: June 2010
Download: Information for parents/caregivers of young people seeking Family Planning clinical services PDF document, 2 pages, 130KB
References:
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCROC) Ratified by New Zealand 1993
The Contraception, Sterilisation and Abortion Act 1977
The Care of Children Act 2004
Right 7 of the Code of Health and Disability Consumers’ Rights 1996
The Health Information Privacy Code 1994
Rule 11 of the Health Information Privacy Code 1994
Reddy DM, Fleming R, Swain C. 2002. Effect of Mandatory Parental Notification on Adolescent Girl's Use of Sexual Health Care Services