Donor Anonymity Removed By New Legislation

What Is The New Fertility Campaign About?

A national recruitment campaign for gamete donors has been launched. This has been welcomed by the British Fertility Society as changes to the law to remove donor anonymity draw closer. The BFS have confirmed their commitment to working with the government to promote the campaign.

Why Will Donor Anonymity Be Removed?

There are both advantages and disadvantages to donor anonymity. The BFS recognise that individuals who were conceived from donated sperm and eggs, may in the future want to find out about their origins. Advantages of the new law include:-

Individuals will be able to identify their biological parents
Individuals will be able to trace their biological origins and therefore assess their susceptibility to familiy inherited diseases and illnesses. Matching tissues and organs may also become easier.
It is hoped that the change in legislation may lead to more parents being honest with their children about their origins. At present it is estimated that only ten per cent of donor conceived children are ever told about their origins

Equally, a number of practical concerns remain around the continuation of treatment services with donor gametes. These include:

Clinics are already reporting a sperm shortage. The new recruitment campaign will face a significant challenge to meet the national requirement
Patients may use unregulated methods to obtain donor sperm if they are unable to receive treatment, or if they do not want to receive sperm from an unidentified donor
Concerns have been voiced about patients using contact advertisements and the internet to obtain donated sperm for home insemination
Patients may choose to go abroad for treatment. This treatment is unregulated by the BFS
Information about how clinics should be preparing the the change in legistation has been slow to produce
The government have not plans at present to fund mediation and origin counseling similar to that provided by post adoption services

What Changes Will This New Donor Anonymity Law Mean?

Education and awareness campaign
New information and support networks
Government/BFS partnership deemed crucial to the campaigns success
The British Fertility Society will be drafting new guidelines for its member clinics to help them to recruit new donors
The British Fertility Society will measure the impact of the treatment services available to gamete donors nationwide

When Will This New Law Come Into Being?

April 2005

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