Sperm and egg donors could lose anonymity
DONORS of sperm or eggs could lose their right to anonymity as the fertility regulator considers recommending the measure be scrapped.
Under current rules, such donors are completely anonymous – although those who have been involved since 2005 can be contacted by their biological offspring when those children turn 18.
But the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), which oversees the fertility industry, has warned popular DNA-testing websites make it harder to keep identities private.
Now the fertility watchdog is thinking about advising ministers to scrap anonymity for sperm and egg donors as part of an overhaul on fertility rules.
Peter Thompson, HFEA chief executive, said: ‘We feel that the technology of cheap DNA tests throws into question the underlying assumption [of anonymity].
‘Given that, the responsible thing to do is to start a conversation about where we as a society want to go on these things. It’s a big change.’
He told The Guardian: ‘You can see a position in the future where confidentiality just becomes impossible, whatever the attitude of families. The honest truth is that people will just find out.’
The HFEA has launched a review of UK fertility law to recommend to the Government what needs to be updated.
If men could choose to supply their name and contact details when they donate sperm, it would bring the UK closer to the US. In the States, some sperm banks offer women looking for donors a dossier of information, so detailed that it includes men’s star sign, religion, hobbies and favourite type of pet.
Fertility charities are concerned that the current lack of known sperm donors, for women who want their child’s biological father to be known to them, is pushing people online.
On websites such as Facebook, there is no shortage of sperm donors. However, some try to pressure women into sexual activity or father too many children in one area, raising the risk of unwitting incestuous relationships between them.
Mr Thompson said the HFEA had not settled on a proposal around anonymity. One option under consideration is the anonymity of donors being lifted at birth rather than at age 18.
Asked if this could deter donors, he said that had not been the case when the law changed in 2005. Although the number of donors dipped briefly, it then recovered.
The HFEA is also expected to request stronger powers to fine fertility clinics found to be selling useless ‘add-on’ treatments. It also wants to make it easier for same-sex couples and single people to access treatment.
More than four million people in Britain are believed to be signed up to DNA-testing websites such as Ancestry DNA.
Julia Chain, chairman of the HFEA, has previously warned that donor anonymity is becoming increasingly difficult to guarantee due to the popularity of such firms.
In a speech to the Fertility 2022 conference, she said: ‘The reality is that donor anonymity as we knew it has gone.
‘It has long been overtaken by shifts in social attitudes about fertility treatment and donation, and the growth in affordable direct-to-consumer DNA tests, which allow individuals to “match” and establish their genetic relationships with an increasing degree of accuracy.’
‘Could become impossible’