A POLITICS student who has been separated from her half-siblings as a result of a divorce is on a mission to fill a ‘gap’ in family law.

Twenty-year-old Sophie Addison, who grew up in Knutsford and attends Bristol University, has kick-started a parliament petition to establish a legal entitlement for sibling, half-sibling and step-siblings to maintain contact with each other.

Since a recent divorce in her family, Sophie has been unable to contact her half-siblings.

Despite attempting to reach out, Sophie has been unable to make contact and so set up a petition – which is approaching 250 signatures – to address what she calls a ‘ludicrous gap’ in family law.

She said: “There is no legal reason for me to be kept from them, but there is no legal reason for me to see them.

“There is however, tremendous moral reasoning.

"Brothers and sisters share a strong bond which has nothing to do with biology.

"It is a connection which is hard to describe in a single word.

“In many ways, they mark our most enduring relationship.

"They are so interconnected in our early lives, stand with us through good and bad times whether we like it or not.

“It is shocking to me that I don’t have rights of access.

“When growing up I relied so much on my big brother and sister when times were tough – it’s hard to imagine how I would have dealt with those hard times if they didn’t have access to me.

“I am very emotionally attached to this cause but the right of sibling access goes beyond myself and my situation.

"This is an issue that will affect many families and so I will continue to fight for change.”

Emma Collins, a partner at family law firm Weightmanns LLP, said that while adults can make an application for access to – or ‘spending time with’ – a younger sibling, the law says that doing so must be in the child’s best interests.

She said: “The law is there, but the right is that of the child, not the adult sibling.

"It’s whether it’s in the child’s best interest.

“There would be an extra hurdle, a practical issue of trying to find them – there is not a lot a court can do.

“The right is that of the child, and you would have to know where the child is to bring that about."

She added that – as noted by Sophie in her petition – the issue is likely to become ‘more and more common’ as family dynamics in the UK continue to move away from a traditional nuclear model.

Follow the petition's progress by visiting petition.parliament.uk/petitions/170377