Anonymous donation

Another concern has been expressed about the anonymous donation of gametes, both in terms of a child’s right to know his/her biological parents, and also in view of the possibility of close relatives (unaware of being so) eventually entering into an intimate relationship with all that this implies medically for the health of the ensuing offspring.

Dr Mark Sant, Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, has stated that “research had extensively assessed the psychological adaptation of donor children, and found it to be comparable to that of children born naturally or through IVF... He warned that banning anonymous donation would destroy any donation programme, as it meant that prospective donors would have to reconcile themselves to the possibility of being sought out by their biological children against their own wishes.”

The counter-arguments are the following;

As to potential relationships between relatives, Minister Fearne said that “all individuals born through IVF procedures will have access from the authorities so people will know that they are not from the same donor,” and Commissioner Miceli states that “the bill safeguards the right of a child conceived through such means to his or her individual identity by giving children, when they turn sixteen, the right to know the identity of the donor through whose gamete they were conceived. The fact that the bill proposes that gamete donation by the same donor can happen once only preserves the uniqueness of the child’s biological identity.”