Donor registration
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Donor registration facilitates donor conceived people, sperm donors and egg donors to establish contact with genetic kindred. Registries are mostly used by donor conceived people to find genetic half-siblings from the same egg or sperm donor.
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[edit] Types of registries
There are registries of the fertility clinics etc. as well as independent registries.
[edit] Clinic registries
Fertility clinics etc. keep registries of donors and receivers. The donor number is generally available to the donor as well as the receivers. On the other hand, a donor doesn't generally know which receivers that are linked to his/her donor number, and the receivers don't generally know the true identity behind the donor number.
In the case of non-anonymous donors, the donor conceived people may know the true identity of the donor behind the donor number.
[edit] Independent registries
Since clinic registries are often very limited, independent registries may be more efficient in finding genetic kindred.
Some donors are non-anonymous, but most are anonymous, i.e. the donor conceived person doesn't know the true identity of the donor. Still, he/she may get the donor number from the fertility clinic. If that donor had donated before, then other donor conceived people with the same donor number are thus genetic half-siblings. In short, donor registries matches people who type in the same donor number.
Alternatively, if the donor number isn't available, then known donor characteristics, e.g. hair, eye and skin color may be used in matching siblings.
Donors may also register, and therefore, donor registries may also match donors with their genetic children.
[edit] International registration standards
Some countries have established laws concerning the registration of donors, others permit states to regulate this or have no regulation.
[edit] Australia
There is no national registry in Australia as health is handled by the individual states within Australia. However, some states have initiated donor registries. In the Australian state of Victoria, donors must register at a centralised register and agree to release identifying information to the donor child when they reach 18 years of age. Other states such as Western Australia have implemented a voluntary register which donors and recipients may register their details. This is not compulsory in any state other than Victoria. The Infertility Treatment Authority in Victoria maintains registers [1] relating to donor conception in Victoria.
[edit] New Zealand
In New Zealand the Human Assisted Reproductive Technology Act 2004 established the HART register which makes details of donors available to children and medical professionals.
[edit] Sweden
As in Austria, donor registration is a task for each region, in Sweden: county. Thus, any official fertility clinic cannot know if a donor has donated in other places within the country as well.
The Personal Data Act [2] regulates donor/sibling registries in Sweden. For instance, personal data may mostly not be handed out unless there is consent from that person, and this might include donor codes, although only the clinic itself can link it directly with that donor. However, they may still indirectly link to the donor, and therefore, it is not certain that clinics are willing to deliver donor codes. Furthermore, even if the organization is availed the data, then, by the same law, such an organization has huge responsibilities. For instance:
- It has to make sure the data only is used for its purpose, i.e. link donor siblings to each other.
- The people turning to the organization too has to give data to the organization, and therefore have to be properly informed about how it is used. In addition, a written consent has to be retrieved from them.
[edit] UK
In the United Kingdom, the HFEA has a central register of people of people conceived using gamete donation after 1st August 1991. People conceived using donations made after 1st April 2005 will have the right to know who their donor was when they turn 18.[3] UK Donorlink is a voluntary register for people conceived before 1st August 1991 and for their donors.[4]
[edit] See also
- Donor conceived people
- donor offspring
- sperm donors
- egg donors
- artificial insemination
- donor insemination
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) and Families (Selected resources from the Maternal & Child Health Library, Georgetown University)
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