Information is available to all parties, explains Louise Johnson

The Australian state of Victoria is the only jurisdiction in the world where egg or sperm donors can apply for identifying information about the children their gametes helped to conceive.

This information can only be provided with consent from either the parent recipients (if the child is under 18 years) or the young adult on reaching 18 years.

In Victoria, legislation passed in 1984 and enacted in 1988 means that 18 year-olds who were conceived using donated sperm or eggs can also seek identifying information about their donors, if the donors consent. Parents can also apply for information about the donor of their child if their child is under 18 years.

The first cohort of young people to whom the relevant legislation applies is turning 18 this year.

About 100 children turn 18 before December this year, and 200 will turn 18 next year. All applications for identifying information are made to the Infertility Treatment Authority (ITA), an independent statutory authority that regulates the provision of assisted reproductive technology in Victoria.  The ITA manages all registers relating to donors and children born using donated sperm or eggs.

Research conducted by the ITA has told us that parents do want to tell children of their origins, but are afraid or unsure how to do it. Young adults also tell us that it is crucial to be able to obtain information about their donor, and that this is an important part of the identity jigsaw.

Education campaign

We believe that, in Victoria, only between 30 and 50 per cent of donor-conceived children know the facts surrounding their conception. Now, young adults may find out about their conception if contacted by the ITA, following a request from a donor for identifying information. This potential problem highlighted the need for a major education campaign.

The three-year public education campaign, Time to Tell, was implemented to help families manage the impact of this legislation. The Time to Tell campaign encourages families, with children born using donated sperm or eggs, to consider the issues and the benefits of telling their child how they were conceived.

Early results indicate that the campaign is reaching the target audience. From its launch in May this year to the end of August, 83 parents, young adults, donors and relatives have sought information and support via telephone or email, and 11 people have received counselling.

Donors have received support on how to tell their families about their donations. Several parents in the target audience have reported that telling their children that they were donor conceived, was a positive decision. Some parents have made the ITA aware of their decision not to tell their children they are donor conceived, so that any inquiring donors can be advised that the child is unaware of their origins. This can be taken into account in the donor’s decision-making about whether to proceed with an application for identifying information.

Impact on donors

Australia-wide guidelines state that clinics can only use donors who consent to identifying information being available to children born as a result of their donation. Donors are counselled about the implications of the legislation before they donate sperm or eggs.

Victoria’s legislation, under which the identity of donors could some day be sought, has had some impact on the number and type of donors. However, the number of donors in Victoria had declined before the legislation was introduced. Numerous factors had come into play, for example, the introduction of ICSI (intracytoplasmic injection) where the sperm is injected directly into an egg, meant that couples could receive infertility treatment without needing to use a donor.

An analysis conducted by the ITA indicates that, when legislation was introduced that strengthened the rights of donor-conceived children to receive information on turning 18 years about their donor (donors consented to this for the first time in 1998), the number of donors dropped that year and in 1999. However, slight increases were noted in 2000 and 2001. The impact of the legislation was greater on sperm donors than on egg donors. This is not surprising, as egg donors were often known by the recipient parents.

Donors now tend to be more mature, often having families themselves. An increasing number of donors in Victoria meet recipient parents before conception takes place, and take into account that contact with future offspring may occur. Recipient parents as well as clinics are often involved with the recruitment of donors.

Concern for the child is what underpins the legislation and the work of the ITA and it will remain a priority for us.

Louise Johnson is Chief Executive Officer of the Victorian Infertility Treatment Authority, www.ita.org.au