Family Law At Four

Open Adoption: 
Problems, Opportunities and Legal Perspectives

Sara Tina

Tuesday, 28 April 2026 at 4:00 p.m. (CEST) 

About the Speaker: 
Sara Tina is a PhD candidate in Civil Law at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan (Italy) and qualified as an Italian lawyer in 2024. She is currently a scholarship holder at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law in Hamburg and was a visiting researcher at Boston University from January to June 2024. She also serves as a teaching assistant in Civil and Family Law at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan and Piacenza. Her research lies in the field of Private Law, and she is currently working on Family Law and open adoption from a comparative perspective.

About the Topic:
The growing recognition of open adoption in contemporary family law calls for a reassessment of the traditional model of adoption as a definitive severance of biological ties. By allowing adoptees and birth families to maintain forms of post-adoption contact, open adoption raises significant legal and psychological questions. In light of the Italian Constitutional Court Judgment No. 183/2023, which admitted the possibility of open adoption under specific conditions, and of broader legislative developments in several jurisdictions, it becomes necessary to examine the phenomenon from a legal and comparative perspective.

About the Series:
"Family Law At Four" offers employees of the Institute and guest speakers the opportunity to present their research on current issues of family law, always at “4 pm”. The event series is aimed at all academics and practitioners interested in family law.

The lecture will be held as a hybrid event, i.e. you are welcome to participate either in person at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law, Mittelweg 187, 20148 Hamburg, or via Zoom.

If you choose to participate online, you will receive the login details the day before the event. Please confirm upon registration that you agree to the use of Zoom and that you will not record the event. By attending the event you confirm that you have read and agreed to Zoom’s Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

If you choose to participate in person, please let us know in case your plans change or you are unable to attend at short notice.